Yeyinde
by ForFlamesInFlames
Summary: The young, impulsive hunter Vraa’hn ignores a higher-ranking hunter’s warnings and makes a fatal mistake during the hunt and kills a female Pyode Amedha with a pup. The punishment brought upon him is what starts the story of Yeyinde – the brave one.
1. Prolouge

**Prolouge**

I'm trying to work of my obsession with AvP by writing some fan fiction. I'm not new here on FF and have written several Harry Potter fan fictions before. Though, as you probably can tell, _English_ isn't my mother tongue and therefore you'll have to bear with me. _I am looking for a Beta and if you're interested contact me. _

Don't own predator etc.

* * *

The night sky was clear, the stars shone bright above the breathtaking white winter landscape. Everything was dangerously calm and nothing moved, as if the inhabitants of the area knew that discovery was fatal, lethal even. All of a sudden a horrifying shriek, primal beyond imagination, could be heard across the vast landscape. The silence that followed was ill boding, like a message of death. Suddenly the calmness evaporated as five large, alien creatures came running toward each other through the deep snow. Three of them looked like black nightmares; vaguely bipedal in form and with a skeletal, biomechanical appearance and a scorpion-like tail. The other two were more humanoid in their appearance all though considerably taller than any normal human male would be. For a second the world seemed to come to a standstill as the five creatures leapt into the air. Then the silence shattered as they slammed into each another. Screams, totally alien for any earthly creature ripped through the silent wilderness.

_The battle had begun._

_**XxX**_

Not far away a small group of people came to a standstill as the blood freezing screams reached them. The dogs pulling the sledge with their equipment growled defensively, as if they sensed the threat. The humans looked at each other, as if they were unsure about if they dared to open their mouths to speak. Two of them were males, the third a female with brown, curly hair and green eyes.

"What do you think that was Patrick?" the female asked and looked in the general direction of the sound. "It didn't sound like a wolf or a fox."

"Perhaps it was a polar bear", the other man answered and laughed.

"Very funny Ted", the woman sneered, licking her lips nervously.

"Aw, come on Tessa, I was only kidding", the man named Ted replied, wiggling his eyebrows impishly. "But if you feel frightened you know that you can always come to me for comfort."

"Are you hitting on my wife Ted?" the second man, Patrick, asked with playful sternness in his voice.

"The dogs seem upset", Tessa said, studying their draught animals, paying the two men no mind.

"It's nothing to worry about Tessa", Ted said sensibly. "It's probably just an animal of some sort or the wind. Besides, the dogs are tired. We should set up camp."

"Are you sure this is a good place?" Patrick asked, looking around the plain, white wilderness around them. "Shouldn't we find some shelter first?"

"We should manage", Ted answered. "We'll just dig a hole in the snow, it seems deep enough."

"Well you're the expert."

They put up camp, sheltering the tent from the wind with snow. When they were finished all three of them seemed to have forgotten about the strange screams. The dogs seemed to have settled down as well and the peace of the cold and dangerously beautiful landscape was restored. Tessa crept into the tent and started making their beds, but both Ted and Patrick remained outside, silently watching the breathtakingly beautiful northern lights that illuminated the black sky.

_**XxX**_

K'han crouched down beside the kill, studying its dead form: Elongated, cylindrical skull without visible eyes, blade-tipped tail, colored in a muted shade of black. Clicking in approval he extended his wrist blade and in one swift movement he severed the Kainde Amedha's neck, and the head fell to the ground with a thump; yellowish, acid blood spraying over the white snow with a hissing noise. It had been a good hunt. K'han was pleased. He had been able to kill two Kainde Amedha without sustaining any serious injuries; only a minor flesh wound on his right arm. He got up from the ground, placing the acquired trophy on his back as he did so. He glanced toward the north and for a while he was bewitched by the beautiful northern. Their hunt had certainly been blessed by Paya since she seemingly had bestowed her godly light upon them as well as good hunting fortune. All that remained now was for him and his hunting partner, Vraa'hn, to return to the mother ship. All of a sudden K'han realized that Vraa'hn's presence had gone missing. The young blood was not there anymore. K'han spun around, staring wildly at the scene of the battle. The three hard meats lay motionless in the snow; all of them had been de-headed, but Vraa'hn was nowhere to be seen.

"Vraa'hn!" he barked out in the silent night but there was no answer.

K'han switched his visual frequency to infrared from the specifically tuned EM Field Detector mode used to track xenomorphs and found Vraa'hn's heat signature only two kilometers away, moving swiftly in a straight line toward the north. To his surprise K'han found three more heat signatures further along in that direction. K'han who was an experienced hunter recognized those heat signatures as Pyode Amedha, soft meats.

"C'jit!" he cursed. The damned young blood had run of to find more trophies. "Pauk-de! Vraa'hn!"

Activating his cloaking device K'han set of after Vraa'hn, cursing as he did. He was responsible for Vraa'hn as his senior and mentor. They had come to this remote part of the back water planet to hunt Kainde Amedha, not Pyode Amedha and even though K'han understood Vraa'hn's excitement over the possibility to earn more trophies this was simply not the right time to go hunting another species. The damn fool hadn't even activated his cloaking device which was a sign of arrogance. K'han knew that Pyode Amedha was nowhere as dangerous as Kainde Amedha, but it was also his firm belief that they shouldn't be underestimated. He increased his speed but at the same time he knew that he wouldn't be able to catch up with Vraa'hn if the young blood didn't slow down on his own accord. K'han focused his infrared vision on the soft meats. They were three in total, two males and one female. The other heat signatures seemed to belong to some sort of four-legged mammal.

He noted how Vraa'hn slowed his pace as he neared the soft meats camp. Like a deadly shadow the young hunter crept nearer and nearer until he almost was upon his unaware preys. The two males were standing still with their attention towards the sky. K'han knew that they were dead meat. Vraa'hn pounced without making any sound, flying over the primitive tent and landing on top of the soft meats, making the process short with them. Barley a sound escaped their throats as Vraa'hn's arm blades impaled them. K'han was silently impressed, but cursed silently as the woman stirred in the tent and came crawling out. A silent, feeble sound of terror escaped her as she gazed upon the, in comparison, huge hunter and her two dead companions. For a while both of them just stared at each other, neither of them made a move and K'han knew that if the female only stayed still, without attacking Vraa'hn, she most likely would be spared. It was not considered honorable to kill females.

"Patrick!"

All of a sudden the woman got up on her feet, bringing a spade with her as she did so. With an angry cry she lashed out at the stunned hunter that barley blocked the swipe against his head.

"Bastard!" the female cried and made another swing at Vraa'hn with the spade. The hunter caught her by the neck, unaffected by the spade that landed heavily on his shoulder.

With a snarl of disgust he threw her to the ground and, as if to make a point, he extended his arm blades and trained them on her. Making her options clear; _fight back and you'll die, stay still and I'll let you live. _K'han switched his visual frequency to Neuro Vision and saw that the female was in a well balanced mode between fear and anger and not in panic as Vraa'hn probably imagined. The young blood withdrew his arm blades and turned his back to the female that seemed rooted to the spot with fear. _Not a smart move_. K'han growled in annoyance, hadn't he taught the young blood better? As Vraa'hn turned his attention towards his killings the woman strode into action. Drawing a sharp object from her boot, probably a knife, she leapt forward and drove it into Vraa'hn's unprotected calf. The hunter yelped in surprise and pain, turning around and impaling the woman with his arm blades. Red blood decorated the snow and the female soft meat seemed surprised for a second before she slumped forward against Vraa'hn's arm, dead.

K'han snorted and de-cloaked, giving Vraa'hn a faint nod as he approached. He would teach the young blood a lesson or two once they were aboard the ship again. Vraa'hn answered the silent greeting with a nod of his own and started tending to his kill. K'han watched in silence. The youngster had a healthy drive to him but he was far too impulsive, it would do him good to get a fair reprimand for his behavior. All of a sudden a faint cry was heard from within the tent. K'han stiffened and Vraa'hn stopped his severing of the soft meats necks. K'han switched his visual frequency to infrared and scanned the tent. There, among blankets and sleeping bags he found a small heat signature. So small in fact that he hadn't paid it any mind earlier. A sudden realization dawned upon him and as he tore the tent canvas open and reviled the inside he felt his temperature rise. There, facing him was a small Pyode Amedha pup. It cried upon seeing him and K'han felt how anger overwhelmed him. It was forbidden to kill prey that had pups, it just wasn't done.

"C'jit!" he cursed and turned to Vraa'hn that had become remarkably still and silent. "What have you done?"

Vraa'hn didn't answer and K'han roared at him.

"Why didn't you make a proper investigation before you killed your prey? _Pauk! _It was bad enough that you killed the female. What are we going to do with the pup?"

"Leave it", Vraa'hn mumbled and avoided K'han's eyes. "Nature will take care of itself."

"Pauk-de! Vraa'hn!" K'han snarled. "You ignorant young blood! You took off without consulting me, your senior and higher-ranking hunter, and then you ignored all necessities; killing a female that had a pup. You've broken the code of honor and soiled your pride. What do you think that the Elders will say?"

"I didn't notice it! How were I to notice something so small?!" Vraa'hn shoot back, taking a defensive stance.

"Don't talk back to me you pup!" K'han growled. "You alone will take responsibility for this! The Elders will decide your fate."

Vraa'hn slumped his shoulders in defeat, watching the tent with resignation and then turning his gaze toward K'han who refused to let up his aggressive stance.

"What should we do with the pup?"

K'han looked at the ridiculously small creature. What should they do with it indeed? He had no idea. The best option of course would be to leave it with some other soft meats, but they were in the middle of nowhere and even if they did find someone of its own kind it was no guarantee that they would let the pup live. K'han had seen soft meats capable of great atrocities and since they (or more specifically Vraa'hn) were the reason for this pup's predicament it was only right that they saw to that it would be treated in the best of possible ways.

"We'll take it with us", K'han decided. "You will care for it until the Elders say differently. That will be your punishment. Lou-dte Kalei."

Vraa'hn growled at the insult but lowered his head in defeat. K'han clicked in annoyance and turned his gaze toward the stars and the green, shimmering of the northern lights. He wondered what the Elders would decide to do whit the pup and Vraa'hn or with himself for that matter. He was after all the senior hunter on this expedition; he should have paid more attention to Vraa'hn. The young bloods were after all known for their foolishness.

"Pauk", he breathed.

* * *

Lou-dte Kalei - (child maker (female) and a male insult)

C'jit - ("Damn!", "Shit!", general expletive)

Pauk - ("Fuck")

Pauk-de - ("Fuck you")

Kainde Amedha - (Hard meats, xenomorphs, aliens)

Pyode Amedha - (Soft meats, humans)


	2. Her name

**Her name**

Vraa'hn watched her from the shadows. She had that look in her eyes again, the look he admired so much. For something so small _that look_ spoke volumes of the creature residing inside her soul. She had been downed twice; her frail skin was black and blue and she was bleeding from both her mouth and nose. Her opponent stood tall before her, unscratched. Vraa'hn forced himself to stay calm; she wouldn't allow him to interfere and to disrupt a duel, even if it were during training, was considered to be very rude, a crime even, given certain circumstances. He was snapped back to reality when she started moving, running quickly toward the un-blooded hunter with all her might. The look in her eyes never wavering; it was the look of a true warrior. She was soon within her opponent's reach and ducked under a wide swing, getting close was her only option.

Vraa'hn noticed that he held his breath and released it with an annoyed clicking of his mandibles. She lashed out, succeeding in hitting the un-blooded in the area of his kidney and when he swiped against her in turn she danced out of reach. Her adversary roared and Vraa'hn recognized finality when he saw it. Before he had the time to react the un-blooded yautja had lashed out at her and even though she almost avoided his attack by falling backward she still ended up pinned under her opponent's considerably larger bulk. The noise of something breaking felt painful in Vraa'hn's ears. When she didn't struggle the un-blooded got off her, the fight was over. From his hiding place Vraa'hn saw how her green eyes were glassed over, she was unconscious. He sighed and lowered his head, feeling hatred toward the un-blooded even though he knew that they were just training.

'_My punishment_', he thought and looked at the still form. '_Yeyinde._'

As the youngster's trainer, Mahwa, crouched down beside the still soft meat and muttered "Dhi'ki-de" under his breath, Vraa'hn thought back to the time he still considered her to be his punishment for sins once committed.

_**XxX**_

_He sat in his cabin aboard the mother ship and watched the pink little creature. The ships medic had told him that it was female, as if he cared about that. The humiliation was total. The rumor of his sullied pride and punishment spread like a fire among the hunters. Already some yautja called him Lou-dte Kalei behind his back. Some even dared to do it to his face and he had to bear with it. The Elders had agreed with K'han that the soft meat pup were to be his punishment. He was stuck with it without knowing what to do. It had cried numerous times already, bringing him to the edge of his sanity. He didn't know how much more he could take, perhaps it had been better if they could just exile him and be done with it. The mocking glances he received were humiliating beyond words. _

_He stirred from his dark thoughts as the little creature before him started crying again. For something so incredibly small it certainly could make a lot of noise. What ever did it want now? He had just fed it so that could impossibly be what the ruckus was about._

"_What do you want?" he growled at it but that didn't help the matter, the pup only screamed even worse, if that was physically possible for some with such small lungs._

_All of a sudden he detected a rather unpleasant stench. Vraa'hn stared at the pup in disbelief. _

"_You've got to be kidding me", he murmured. "Oh for the love of Paya!"_

_While trying not to inhale the foul stench or think about what he was doing, Vraa'hn stripped the pup of its clothes and uncovered a rather nasty surprise that unfortunately had smeared off on the pup's legs and back. He would need to bathe it, no question about it. Discarding the disgusting piece of clothing into the garbage chute he set to work with bathing the creature. It was no easy task. Vraa'hn thought he would break it every time he touched its small and soft frame and the screaming didn't help either. Even when he was finished bathing it and had tucked the pup into its blankets it still screamed bloody murderer. It was unbearable and he had no means what so ever to deal with it. Balancing on the edge of sanity he turned to the pup and roared at it, letting lose all of his frustration and anger into one single, blood freezing combat roar. _

_The crying stopped. The pup looked at him with big, green eyes. It opened its mouth again and Vraa'hn was prepared for yet another scream, but what came instead surprised him. The pup giggled. Vraa'hn stared at it in disbelief._

"_You thought that was funny, did you?" he growled and wondered for a brief second if the pup mocked him. "I'll show you funny!"_

_He roared again, higher this time, and brought his face close to the little creature._

_The pup blinked in surprise. Some of Vraa'hn's saliva had landed on its round cheek. Then it actually laughed. A gurgling, wet sound that made Vraa'hn cringe inside. He sighed and watched the soft meat. It was no bigger than his palm and had soft, brown hair on its small head. The hands and feet were so tiny that it felt surreal to look at them._

"_For something so ridiculously tiny you show a great deal of spunk", he muttered. _

_The pup crowed happily and reached its tiny paws to him. Vraa'hn hesitated before he held out his own had to it. The unbelievably small fingers cradled his index finger and then the pup did something totally unexpected. It brought Vraa'hn's finger to its mouth and tried to chew on it. Vraa'hn watched its fruitless attempt at fitting his finger into its tiny mouth with both chock and amazement._

"_Are you trying to eat me?" he chuckled, all of a sudden not feeling so down anymore. "I'll have you know that I'm way above you in the food chain."_

"_Brlgh", the pup crowed and wet drool run down its round cheek and Vraa'hn actually chuckled._

"_You soft meats are a rather disgusting kind, aren't you?"_

_The pup giggled again and then it yawned and before Vraa'hn knew it the little creature had gone out like a light. He watched it without finding the words to describe what he felt. _

"_Yeyinde", he murmured. "That'll be your name."_

_**XxX**_

Yeyinde stirred in her sleep feeling the pain of several bruises and one broken arm. The bright lights of the infirmary greeted her coldly when she opened her eyes. She groaned and tried to sit up.

"That ass!" she cursed and thought about the fight. He hadn't played fair. None of them did. It was as if they enjoyed sending her to the infirmary.

She thought about Mahwa and felt how a sneer crept onto her face. Numerous of times when she had the advantage in a practice duel he would break it off, declaring it to be a draw. But whenever someone else had her broken and bleeding on the floor he would wait in the longest to call it quits. And then it was the fact that he always, _always, _paired her with older students with much longer fighting experience than she was as if her unconsciousness was his goal. Or perhaps her death, she wasn't sure.

"Yeyinde", a familiar voice said and she tried to smile as she turned around and faced Vraa'hn where he stood in the door to the infirmary. "I heard you were injured-"

"-again", she finished bitterly. "I'm sorry Vraa'hn Yau-th."

"It was an unfair duel Yeyinde", Vraa'hn retorted and came over to her side. "Duh-kwe'h are due to go on his first hunt soon, no-one in your age would be able to beat him."

"Mahwa knows that", Yeyinde mumbled and hated herself for sounding so pitiful.

Vraa'hn growled but didn't comment. Yeyinde sighed and fell back against the bunk.

"Remember that you are Yeyinde", Vraa'hn said after a while. "The brave one."

Yeyinde nodded and clenched her fists. Somehow she would show them. In one way or another she would come up with a technique that would work for someone her size. Somehow she would become stronger, faster and more skilled than any other yautja on this ship.

"Don't provoke Mahwa though", Vraa'hn said. "Somehow I think he enjoys hurting you."

Yeyinde laughed. "I don't think he enjoys hurting me as much as he enjoys humiliating me." She gave her guardian a thoughtful look. "Why can't you train me Yau-th?"

Vraa'hn shook his head and his long dreadlocks rattled against his armor as he did so.

"I can't Yeyinde since I can't stand hurting you and I _would have to hurt you _if I taught you", Vraa'hn said.

"I see."

"Come Yeyinde, I'll walk you back to your cabin, the medic said you'd be fine if you used some healing gel and stayed still for aproxmently two days."

She nodded and got off the bunk.

* * *

Yeyinde - ("Brave one")

Lou-dte Kalei - (child maker (female) and a male insult)

Pyode Amedha - (Soft meats, humans)

Yau-th – (guardian, someone who's family)

Pup - (child)


	3. Yeyinde pt 1

**Yeyinde pt. 1**

She hit the wall angrily with her left hand. Only one hour had passed since Vraa'hn had taken her back to the cabin and she was already getting tired of staying in bed. She needed to be training, needed to get stronger. Whenever she closed her eyes she would see Mahwa's gleefully smiling face. He was hell bent on making her realize her place as a lesser hunter; a soft meat. She hated herself, hated the way she looked, hated her pale, fragile skin and small form. She gave herself a once-over in the mirror on the opposite wall. It wasn't a pleasant sight. Her nose was broken I so many places it wasn't funny anymore. Her hair cut short so that it wouldn't get in the way and her green eyes were obscured behind black and blue swellings. She snorted at her body's proportion. It was thin, athletic but lacked strength. She hated that too. Even if she could avoid getting beaten she still never succeeded in hurting her adversaries as badly as they could hurt her.

It was a good thing she was aboard the male yautja's ship and not the female's. She had only seen female yautja three times in her life and that sight had been terrifying. They were huge and she had heard from Vraa'hn that they were lethal in battle, even to a honored hunter. Yeyinde didn't dare to think about how badly beaten she would be if she was forced to train with them. Yeyinde starred at her reflection and thought about how much she would have liked to have a body like a female yautja. They were long, graceful, strong and deadly. Merely their reach was frightening. Her short arms had nothing to put up against theirs where reach was concerned; even her legs were too short. Still, however much she feared the females, she missed the company of others from the same sex.

She stared out in space, lost in thought. The yautja didn't often mate for life, as she had been told that soft meats did, they sailed their own ships, hunting their own preys and only met up on the home planet to mate every ten years or so. It did happen though that a male and a female would like each other so much that they never mated with anyone else and then a life-bound was created. Those two would hunt together and live together until death. Yeyinde sighed; the thought of mating was a distant one for her. To begin with it wasn't even certain that yautjas and soft meats could mate and have pups together. And even if that was possible, against all odds, then there still was the fact that she was terribly ugly and weak. No self-respecting hunter would have her and that was that. She knew that she was fertile though since she bled every month. Yeyinde snorted; remembering three months ago when her bleeding had started. Her first thought had been that she had hurt herself and that some interior organ had collapsed, the pain she felt certainly suggested that. She had gone to the medic that had given her an examination and when he explained to her what the bleeding was she had felt embarrassmed beyond words. Yeyinde wondered if female yautja also bleed as often as she did or if they felt the same pain that she did. They probably didn't.

"C'jit!" she cursed, hitting the wall again and felt the welcome pain in her fist. "I can't stay here."

If she couldn't train then she needed to find some other way of improving her fighting. Yeyinde got up from bed, feeling a bit wobbly but paid her legs no mind. They, at least, wasn't broken. She got out in the corridor and stood still for a while. It could be dangerous to walk around the ship on her own since some yautjas liked to torment her. As far as Yeyinde was concerned there were two kinds of hunters on this ship; those who bullied her and those who ignored. The former often being un-blooded or young bloods and the latter being older hunters and Elders. She preferred to be ignored. The only one that paid her any mind without hurting her was Vraa'hn, her Yau-th. She smiled at the fond memories she had of him; of the times he had played with her when she was young and the times he had tried to comfort her when she was sad.

Yeyinde started to walk down the corridor, constantly on her guard. It wouldn't do to be surprised in this condition. She wouldn't be able to defend herself and even if yautja didn't hunt weaker pray (due to the code) there was nothing that stopped the un-blooded to prey upon her. She wasn't exactly pray. She was considered to be a very weak clanmember, something that was despised and the young learnt at an early age to hate weaklings.

'Weak', she thought to herself and grimaced. 'There must be a way to make up for it.'

She took the stairs to the next level of the ship and ended up at the service floor. The space ship was huge and there was always the risk of getting lost. Yeyinde had done so many times in the past. Even ending up at the commando bridge once; something she had severely regretted afterwards. As far as she knew the lower levels of the ship was the engine levels. She had her cabin on the sixth level together with the other un-blooded hunters. The thirteenth and fifteenth levels she knew very well, they were the infirmary and training levels. She rarely ventured higher up than that except for when she visited Vraa'hn on the nineteenth level where he had his quarters. Higher up was the commando bridge and the Elders' quarters.

She came to a standstill when she heard familiar voices further along the corridor. Her blood ran cold. It was Kwo-hn and Kul'vir, two of her seniors in the training group. Two bullies with too much muscle and no sympathy. Mahwa favored them and often allowed them to get away with being cruel to her. They were not as skilled as Duh-kwe'h, whom she actually respected even if he had beaten her black and blue this morning. She had actually almost beaten Kwo-hn once or twice, but Mahwa had always stepped in and stopped her. She licked her lips, any moment now they would come around the corner and spot her. In her current state she wouldn't be able to defend herself. Not as if she ever had been able to stand her ground when they were more than one, but at least she would've been able to avoid major damage. She didn't have the time to end up in the infirmary for two weeks again. A broken arm was enough and there was a limit to how many times the medic would be able to patch her up again. She drew a deep breath and prepared herself as the two un-blooded yautja came around the corner. They stopped and starred at her. As if they never had seen her before. They always did that, Yeyinde suspected that they were playing some silly game of '_look it's a soft meat aboard the ship_' to make her feel even more alienated.

Kwo-hn was huge for his age, standing almost as tall as Vraa'hn with enough muscle to keep up the appearance of a small Quw'leh. He had greenish skin with black stripes and yellow eyes. Yeyinde didn't care for his appearance. There were far more attractive hunters around; her Yau-th only to mention one. Kul'vir on the other hand was a different story; he was a sly bastard and not as tall or bulked as other yautjas his age. He was quick though and deadly in his finesse. His skin was dark, almost black with only a couple of brownish spots. His eyes were almost red. They made an odd team; where Kwo-hn was the muscle and Kul'vir the brain. She bit her lip and hoped against all odds that they would leave her alone and for once consider her not worth the effort.

Hoping, of course, was in vain. Kwo-hn's face split up in a huge grin. His mandibles clicked eagerly.

"Tarei'hasan", he said mockingly. "Are you already up and about? I thought Duh-kwe'h taught you to stay down today."

"As he taught you then", she retorted. "If I remember it correctly you fell down on your ass too."

Kwo-hn growled at her, showing of razor sharp teeth.

"Kwo-hn, at least, had the dignity not to faint from fright", Kul'vir answered for his friend.

"I didn't faint from fright", she growled, becoming angry against her better judgment. The best way of tackling the two giant bullies would be to ignore them or just let them have their fun and be done with it. A pray that didn't fight back was uninteresting. "He knocked me out. You too would faint if Mahwa allowed Duh-kwe'h to batter you the way he does me."

"Don't compare me to yourself", Kul'vir snarled. "I can take a beating."

Yeyinde was about to retort that she too could take a beating but realized just in time that they probably all too willingly would provide her with that. Instead she shut her mouth firmly, pressing her teeth together.

"That shut you up good, didn't it?" Kwo-hn said, disdain all too evident in his voice.

Yeyinde lowered her head. She didn't want a fight but she couldn't back down either, that would be cowardly and she was many things but a coward was not one of them. Vraa'hn did, after all, constantly remind her of that she was _the brave one_. She didn't fight back when Kwo-hn's large hand gripped around her neck, not even when his claws buried themselves in her flesh, drawing blood. He pulled her off the ground and she stayed completely still, trying not to think about how it became harder to breathe. Fighting him on his terms was out of question. She couldn't use her right arm and even if she could have the odds were against her. He brought her face close to his own and she imagined that he could smell her fear and perhaps also her anger. She didn't know what amused him the most.

"It would be so _easy _to break your neck Tarei'hasan", he whispered, his breath hot against her cheek.

"Then why don't you?" she answered. "Are you frightened?" She knew that urging him to snap her neck probably wasn't a good idea but she also knew that he was forbidden to kill something that was unarmed and didn't fight back.

Yeyinde did her best to stay perfectly still.

"I'm not frightened", Kwo-hn roared in her face, spraying saliva all over her face. "Are you calling me a coward?"

"No I I'm not", she answered. "I was just wondering."

"Don't let her get to you Mei'hswei", Kul'vir said, always the clever one. "She's winding you up."

Kwo-hn gave her a dirty look that told her that he very much would've liked to pound her into a bloody mess on the floor. She gave him a passive glance back even though she had trouble breathing in his iron grip.

"It's not as if you really count", Kwo-hn hissed. "You're not prey, you're Tarei'hasan and no one would speak up to defend you if I just-" he squeezed her neck a bit harder. "-happened to snap your neck."

"Vraa'hn", she gasped.

"Ah! _Him_", Kwo-hn sneered, almost sounding happy as he did so. "He's as bad as you. It's an insult to the clan to keep Lou-dte Kaleis like him aboard."

"Don't insult-", she gasped feeling more and more faint and angry. _No one_ insulted Vraa'hn in front of her while she was still alive and breathing. Though Kwo-hn, would probably have the latter fixed soon.

"What, do you get angry when I talk about Lou-dte Kalei?" Kwo-hn taunted.

Yeyinde felt that this was about as much as she could take and remain passive. Crying out in rage she grabbed hold of Kwo-hn's arms and used them as support when she drove her right foot straight into his groin. She earned a satisfying groan from him as he bent over in unmistakable pain. Yeyinde was prepared when his grip around her neck loosened and she landed on the floor gracefully. She had no time to celebrate, though, as Kwo-hn reached out to grab her again. She fell backward and avoided his swipe for her legs. She turned around and found Kul'vir standing there, not actively participating in the fight but he made it clear that he wouldn't let her leave if she tried to make a run for it.

Kwo-hn lunged at her, fist closed in a way that would shatter her bones if it connected.

She saw it coming and sidestepped, on the principle that the best way not to get hit was to not be in the way of a punch. He passed so close to her face that she could feel the wind on her cheek. She came to her senses quickly as she saw an opening in his defense. She got in range and smashed her knee into the softer flesh of his belly, just below the ribs. Kwo-hn grunted in surprise and she danced away, circling, alert for an opening. It was imperative that she stay out of his grasp since he easily could crush her with one fist. This environment was to her advantage though; she was quick on her legs and could maneuver far better than the huge un-blooded could. She danced in range again, keeping well away from his heavy punch. She was used to this kind of fighting, the problem was to finish it. She couldn't muster all of the strength that was necessary to take Kwo-hn down. She landed a heavy kick on his knee, earning herself a satisfying crunching sound and her opponent roared.

She was about to go for his head next but misjudged his reach and was mercilessly tackled to the ground; her head hitt the hard floor and her broken arm hurt like hell when she had to suport her weight on it. She screamed in rage and pain. Kwo-hn's huge fist came down toward her head. She would die if it connected. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the oncoming punch and-

It never came.

She stared up and found Kwo-hn's fist only a few inches away from her face. She gulped and realized that someone was holding the gigantic un-blooded back. She caught the sight of an even larger hunter behind Kwo-hn. Someone she recognized, but it wasn't Vraa'hn. It was-

"K'han", Kul'vir growled upon recognition.

"Get out of my sight", K'han growled and literally threw Kwo-hn off her shivering form.

Both Kul'vir and Kwo-hn growled their excuses and left without as much as a protest. Yeyinde got up from the floor on shaky legs; feeling the adrenaline high in her veins. She stared at the huge hunter for a while. He was perfect in every way, strong and tall without looking out of proportion and his skin was all black except for a few greenish spots on the forehead. His dreadlocks were long as well, adorned by silver rings and ornaments. He had a lot of trophies hanging from his belt; some of them from soft meats. Yeyinde felt how a cold shiver traveled down her spine. She bowed to him and prepared to leave but was stopped by a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Not you", he growled.

She swallowed against her dry throat.

'_What did he mean?_'

* * *

Yeyinde - ("Brave one")

Lou-dte Kalei - (child maker (female) and a male insult)

Pyode Amedha - (Soft meats, humans)

Yau-th – (guardian, someone who's family)

Pup - (child)

Tarei'hasan – (insect, lesser being)

Quw'leh – (a huge lizard)

Mei'hswei - (brother)


	4. Yeyinde pt 2

**Yeyinde pt. 2**

"Follow me", K'han said and started walking down the corridor.

Yeyinde didn't dare to answer; she simply followed him while trying to figure out what he wanted with her. Would he punish her for brawling in the corridor? She certainly hoped not. His appearance and presence alone frightened her in a way that neither Kwo-hn nor Kul'vir did. They were children compared to him, their fighting techniques dull and ill preformed. She both admired and feared him; her Yau-th's master and senior hunter in only a few years he was sure to reach the status of an Elder. It was awe-inspiring that he even spoke to her, let alone saved her from being killed. If he really had saved her, she didn't know that yet, perhaps he had something else in mind, something far more terrifying than a beating from two bullies in an abandoned corridor. She shivered at the thought.

He didn't speak to her and kept a high pace which forced her to jog behind him to keep up. She cursed her short legs. He led her to the twentieth level and Yeyinde felt very nervous, this level and above was out of her league. She had never been this high up in the ship, except for that horrible time when she got lost a couple of years ago and confused herself so much that she ended up at the commando bridge. He turned around and cocked his head to the side as he watched her. She licked her lips. Had she done something wrong? Then he nodded in approval and clicked his mandibles which was a comforting sound. Yeyinde released her breath that she realized that she had been holding.

"This way Yeyinde", he said and opened a door to their left.

Yeyinde was completely dumbfounded by the fact that he knew her name.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked. "Come in."

She licked her lips and couldn't believe the fact that she was allowed into K'han's quarters. On shaky legs she entered the room and was awestruck by the interior. This was something else than her own narrow cabin. The room was huge and she believed there was more to it than she could see from where she was standing. He even had a view of the black space trough a huge window in the opposite wall. The décor was exclusive with trophies and furs decorating both the walls and the floor. The room even had some color to it, the walls went in a crusty tone and the floor was black and glassy; Yeyinde could almost see her own reflection in it. K'han beckoned to her and pointed at a huge chair that was draped with a soft, thick fur.

"Sit down", he ordered.

She obeyed him without hesitation. She was still nervous but at least it didn't look like he would hurt her. As she sat down he remained standing, giving her a penetrating stare.

"You could have died", he stated after a while.

"I'm sorry", she mumbled. "I will try to get stronger."

K'han snorted and went over to the other side of the room; Yeyinde could barely see him from where she sat. She heard how he pushed a few buttons and then there was a hissing noise as he opened a shutter in the wall. From the corner of her eye she noted that he had gone to fetch some healing gel. Yeyinde felt how her cheeks grew hot when she realized that the gel was for her.

"You're bleeding", he said.

"It's nothing", she insisted. "It doesn't hurt at all."

"But you're dripping blood on my chair", he answered simply.

"Oh." She felt ridiculous; of course he hadn't been concerned about her well being. Her cheeks grew even hotter and she nodded and applied the gel that he offered.

"You're a lousy fighter", he said bluntly. "Who's your trainer?"

"Mahwa", she answered, trying to keep the hatred from her voice.

"Oh?" he sounded surprised and gave her a curious look. "I would've thought that Vraa'hn would train you himself. He is, after all, a very skilled fighter. Hotheaded admittedly but that's the way of the young blood."

"He doesn't want to", she whispered, remembering the pained look in his eyes when she had asked him this morning in the infirmary.

K'han chirped in surprise. "Did he give you a reason for turning you down? I presume that you have asked him since you seem so unsatisfied with your current trainer." Yeyinde dared to look up at him for a moment. He didn't look so scary while seated and his dark brown eyes had a friendly and wise glint to them that inspired her to answer him truthfully.

"He said that he was afraid to hurt me", she said. "But please don't think him weak because of it he-"

"Have grown", K'han finished for her and she stared at him in surprise. "That's very mature and insightful of him. He understands that he wouldn't be able to teach you properly since he cares about you too much. A trainer needs to discipline his students and teach them both pain and victory if he cares about you he wouldn't be able to teach you the pain and you would be defenseless against it when facing it out there in the reality. Not knowing pain could kill you."

Yeyinde nodded, relieved that K'han didn't think that Vraa'hn was a coward.

"Still", K'han mused. "Your current skills are unforgivably lacking. How much do you train?"

"Every day Zah'zai*", she asserted and lowered her head humbly.

"And you're still this puny?" he asked in surprise.

She blushed furiously and stared down at her feet. He was right, she was pathetic. How could she waste so much time training and still not get better? There was no excuse. Perhaps this was her limit? That thought made her blood run cold, if she couldn't get any better than this she could just as well allow Kwo-hn to kill her. There was no point in living if she couldn't even become a blooded hunter. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

"Do you have your teacher with you all the time when you're training?"

"No Zah'zai*", she answered. "I train by myself most of the time. Mahwa only allows me into his training group two days a week. He says that I'm slowing down the other students."

"Oh?" K'han straightened a bit and Yeyinde wondered if the steely tone in his voice was from anger or something else. "What does he teach you then?"

"Well he allows me to spar with the others to see if I have improved enough to be able to attend his training group."

K'han snorted and stood up from his chair. Yeyinde followed him with her gaze, unsure about if she should stand up too. He walked over to the shutter again and pressed a few buttons. He came back with a solid tome in his hands and sat down, yet again facing her. Yeyinde felt as though his eyes drilled a hole straight through her brain.

"You have been wronged Yeyinde", K'han said after a while, giving her a sad smile. "Both Mahwa and Vraa'hn have wronged you."

"But Vraa'hn haven't-"

"He's your Yau-th, is he not?"

"He is but-"

"Then it's his responsibility to care for your training, if not personally, then by seeing to that you get the best trainer available", K'han gave her a stern look when she tried to open her mouth to defend Vraa'hn again. "And Mahwa,_ clearly_, isn't suited to be your trainer. You can't teach a pup to become a hunter by beating and humiliating her. The only thing he is manifesting in you is _fear_ and that'll teach you nothing."

"But Mahwa was the only one that could be persuaded into taking me on", Yeyinde said, feeling worthless as she did so. It was evident for everyone to see that she was a looser, a weakling that no one had faith in. Not even Vraa'hn as it seemed.

"Here", K'han said and broke her depressing chain of thought. He handed her the thick tome. "Read this and meet me on the fifteenth level tomorrow. I expect you to at least grasp the concept of it."

Yeyinde accepted the tome and felt how heavy it was. She stared at K'han, wide eyed.

Did he mean…?

"What do you mean Zah'zai*?"

"I'm going to train you", K'han replied and gave her a daring look. "Unless you prefer to go on like before?"

Yeyinde felt faint from both fright and happiness. Had she actually understood him right? Did he actually plan to train her? Did _he_, K'han, honored hunter and soon to be Elder, plan to train her?

"Well?" He asked sternly.

She stared at him and realized that she hadn't accepted. "I would be honored Zah'zai*", she blurted; smiling from ear to ear.

"Took you long enough", he muttered but she saw how he smiled, mandibles clicking soothingly. "Ungrateful pup", she blushed when he referred to her as a child but she supposed that to him that was pretty much what she were. "Go back to your own cabin now and study that book, I fully expect you to at least have read the introduction by tomorrow."

"Yes Zah'zai*", she breathed and got up on her feet. "I won't disappoint you."

"That's a good girl", he murmured as she went through the door.

Yeyinde was so happy that she almost skipped the whole way back to her cabin. Not caring if she ran into Kwo-hn and Kul'vir again. If she would happen upon them she was sure that she could beat them with her high spirits alone.

_**XxX**_

K'han watched the empty chair in which she had been sitting only moments ago. He was a bit worried about her and wondered if she would get back to her cabin safely. That pup- _no_ he corrected himself- female really had been neglected in the worst imaginable way.

K'han felt angry. Not only at that s'yuit-de Mahwa, but also at Vraa'hn that apparently hadn't done something about it. Her injuries were unacceptable and that they for the most part had been inflicted upon her during training with a teacher present was outrageous. Her battered body wasn't the worst thing though. It was her broken spirit. The way she avoided his gaze like a scolded and beaten pup made his righteous soul roar with fury.

But he would make it better. He would mend her.

He owed it to her after all.

* * *

Yeyinde - ("Brave one")

Lou-dte Kalei - (child maker (female) and a male insult)

Pyode Amedha - (Soft meats, humans)

Yau-th – (guardian, someone who's family)

Pup - (child)

Zah'zai - (venerable)


	5. Yeyinde pt 3

**Yeyinde pt. 3**

_Giwa Ken Dai-ikkei_

_-//Be wary of your surroundings. Draw your right foot back in hiki ashi and assume hidari chudan gamae. Step forward with left mae chidori ashi, deliver left jodan choku zuki. Hold your right fist in front of your chest. Then deliver chudan gyaku zuki. Keep your left hand in front of your chest. \\- _

Yeyinde stood in front of her mirror and read from the book on the floor. She kept doing the same movements over and over again; trying to memorize them. She was beyond happy, she was ecstatic.

_Left jodan choku zuki_

_Right chudan zuki_

She kept doing it, watching her blows in the mirror. Trying to imagine how they connected with an opponent. The tome was a collection of different moves and blows, designed to do damage beyond her wildest dreams, but it also had a lot of chapters on philosophy and healing. Yeyinde had glanced trough the whole book but it was far too extensive for her to read through from cover to cover in only one evening. She did, however, grasp the concept of it. The main goal for battle training, according to the book, was that _soft_ subdued _hard_ and that _hard_ disrupted _soft_; meaning that the techniques described in the book were both soft and hard. Ranging from blows and kicks to locks and throws. There were even numerous chapters on weaponry and armed combat. Yeyinde decided to save that to later, she had a feeling that K'han would inform her when she was ready to move on to wrist blades, combi-sticks, smart-discs and the like.

'_K'han._'

She couldn't believe it. Her yau-th's master had offered to train her; _her_, a lowly soft meat that never had been able to defeat a yautja in battle before, she wasn't even sure if she had showed any promise in combat. Vraa'hn had told her once that she had a warrior's spirit, but how did that help her when she was mercilessly beaten to a bloody pulp on the floor by the likes of Kwo-hn and Kul'vir? She made another jab at the mirror with her right fist, feeling a white hot stab of pain run through her body; her damned arm hadn't healed yet.

"Pauk", she breathed and sat down on the floor, resting her head against the edge of the bed.

She hadn't eaten anything except for breakfast today. Her stomach made a growling sound and she sighed. She had missed dinner and now it was too late anyway, the kitchens were closed. A headache was fast approaching and both her face and her arm hurt like pauk.

"Focus", she thought and stood up. "Just focus damn you."

She felt as though her own body was betraying her. For a brief second she wondered if other soft meats were as weak as she was, probably not since yautja hunted them, they must be worthy prey. She went over the battle stances in the first chapter again and again and again, over and over until her body was so tired that it refused to move. With a weak moan she sank to the floor. The last thought on her mind before she sank into the darkness was that she mustn't be late the morning after.

_**XxX**_

He stood outside of her door, wondering whether or not he should check on her. She wasn't a pup anymore and therefore not something he should worry about, but the mental image of her blooded and beaten form was etched on his retina in a way that disturbed him so much that he couldn't sleep.

'Paya be damned', he thought and entered the code to her door. It was a good thing she had agreed to share it with him.

He entered her narrow cabin and his gaze fell upon her where she lay on the floor.

"Yeyinde", he whispered and crouched down beside her. "What am I to do with you?"

He checked her motionless form with the body-scan, searching for injuries or sicknesses but found nothing except for the old injury in her arm and small signs of dehydration, but it was nothing that a glass of water couldn't fix. He cocked his head to the side and noticed the faint glow from recently applied healing gel on her neck. He couldn't recall her sustaining any injury there during this morning's practice duel. Careful not to disturb her sleep he moved closer and adjusted his visual frequency so that he could see what injuries the gel covered. What he saw was bruises in the shape of large fingers and shallow cuts from five claws.

He growled.

Someone had hurt her outside of training.

'Unforgivable', he thought and felt a strong urge to punish the responsible yautja.

He scooped her up in his arms, careful not to wake her but she didn't even stir in her sleep. He guessed that she was exhausted and wondered if she really had eaten properly. She shouldn't skip her meals; her thin body needed all the nourishment it could get. He made a mental note to tell her to feed herself properly.

"Really", he sighed. "One could think that you still are a pup and that I'm your mother."

'Lou-dte Kalei', came the unbidden thought and he felt a stab of anger, but not at her but at himself and the other yautja. He tucked her under the blanket and stood up. 'It's not your fault Yeyinde.'

_**XxX**_

_She could make him roar with fury and then, moments later have him holding her and purr to her when she was upset. If she had been a handful when she was still a little pup that was unable to __crawl, walk and run, then it was nothing compared to how she became when she had mastered those things. She was the strangest, most horrible thing that had ever happened to him and still he couldn't hold it against her. The feelings he had for her was scary, he felt as if he would suffocate if he didn't know that she was safe, someone her size could so easily be harmed and he knew from experience that her skin was ridiculously easily bruised. _

_Her elusive laugh was heard through the corridors of the ship. Vraa'hn groaned and followed it; he had to stop her before she ran into trouble. He wasn't really worried that a hunter would harm her if she encountered them, it would be a blemish on that hunter's pride. He was worried though that someone accidently would trample her since she was so small. _

'_Small or not', he thought. 'She sure can run!'_

_He came around a corner and was immediately attacked from below. _

"_Wahn!" she cooed and cradled his left leg with all her might. _

_He grimaced at her nickname of him. He really had to tech her to say it correctly. _

"_What are you doing Yeyinde?" he asked and picked her up in his arms. He could still be amazed at times over how small she really was._

_She gave him an impish smile. "Hunting", she replied._

"_Are you now?" he chuckled. "Well, did you catch anything?"_

"_You", she giggled._

"_Me?" he couldn't hold down a laugh, the thought of her hunting him was ridiculous at best. "I don't think you realize your boundaries Yeyinde."_

"_I don't have any", she grumpily replied. _

'_Oh but you do little one', he thought with a sigh and she would realize just how many in just a few years time. The day when she would have to start training was fast approaching. _

_**XxX**_

Vraa'hn closed her door and allowed the memories to flood him for a while. She really wasn't a pup anymore and he had never been more worried about her then he was now.

"I thought I'd find you here Vraa'hn", a voice said. Vraa'hn immediately sank down in a defensive stance. "Easy boy", the voice continued and Vraa'hn saw how the air further along shimmered a bit before a huge hunter became visible.

"K'han", he murmured and relaxed a bit. "What do you want?"

"Still no respect for your elders I see", K'han replied and came closer. "How is she?"

"Who?" Vraa'hn wondered and blinked in surprise at his teacher.

"Yeyinde", K'han said and stopped a few steps away.

Vraa'hn gave him a watchful stare. Why did K'han care about Yeyinde? He had never shown any interest before. "She's fine, but why do you care?"

"Earlier today I had to stop young Kwo-hn and Kul'vir from killing her", K'han simply replied and cocked his head a bit.

Vraa'hn felt how his blood ran both hot and cold on the same time. "Kill her?" he asked, anger barley restraint in his voice. So that's where her bruises on the neck came from. He would have to teach those two a lesson they would never forget.

"Yes", K'han replied calmly. "She's seriously lacking in skill."

Vraa'hn growled; he didn't like the way K'han spoke about Yeyinde. It wasn't her fault she had such a feeble body. She did her best considering the circumstances.

"What's it to you?"

"If she isn't taught properly she's going to die one of these days Vraa'hn", the older hunter murmured.

"She's doing her best", Vraa'hn said defensibly.

"No she's not", K'han growled. "She's not doing well at all. I saw her, she was lucky to come out of that scrape alive. You cannot protect her forever Vraa'hn, you're already slipping behind."

Vraa'hn growled and sank down a bit feeling white hot rage at the older yautjas words.

"Don't start that with me you pup!" K'han growled, flaring his mandibles. "You're not ready to fight me yet."

"Then what do you suggest I do with her?" Vraa'hn sneered.

"I don't need to suggest anything to you", K'han replied. "I've already suggested to her that I take over her training. Mahwa isn't fit for the task and you know it."

Vraa'hn stared slack-jawed at his master, wondering what the world had come to. How was it that numerous yautja pups had all but begged K'han to take them on without any luck and now Yeyinde, a soft meat, would be accepted? Vraa'hn remembered the day he had realized that Yeyinde needed a trainer; back then he had run around asking numerous of hunters to accept her, only to be turned down by each and every one of them. The thought of asking someone of K'han rank was out of question. So why did the older hunter agree?

"It's a challenge", K'han answered, as if he had read Vraa'hn's thoughts. "And I owe it to her."

"In that case", Vraa'hn breathed. "I'm delighted. Please take care of her."

K'han came all the way over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You've grown Vraa'hn, I'm proud of you; you've accepted your punishment and turned it into something else, something valuable. I'll do my best to care for your unique results."

"Thank you Zah'zai."

"You may not believe it only by looking at her but she has promise", K'han said. "I'm sure that after only a couple of month's training she'll be able to face Kwo-hn and win. There is more to a warrior than size and strength, we yautja often tend to forget that."


	6. Yeyinde pt 4

**Yeyinde pt. 4**

K'han was actually surprised when he came down to the fifteenth level and found her already standing there with the book tightly pressed against her chest, as if she expected someone to take it away from her any moment. Admittedly she looked like crap, black and blue in the face and sickly pale; probably from lack of sleep and food. K'han shook his head; he wouldn't permit himself to take pity on her. That way he would do her more harm than good.

'Stupid pup', he thought. 'Whenever did I tell her to disregard her health in favor of that book?'

He saw how her face lit up when she spotted him. K'han clicked his mandibles in annoyance, it would be hard to disappoint her but he had to set matters straight with her from the start; that was after all his responsibility as her teacher. Mahwa might have allowed her to train while not fully recovered but K'han knew from experience that training gave the best results if the student was Setg'-wa, alert. He came to a halt before her, towering two feet above her head, she was so tiny. She lowered her head a bit, showing her respect. K'han gave her a critical onceover. Even without using his body-scan K'han knew that she was dehydrated and tired from lack of nourishment. He growled and she looked up at him, startled.

"I'm disappointed Yeyinde", he clicked and saw how she shuddered under his heavy gaze. "You're not fit for training today."

"But-"

"Are you questioning me?" he growled, flaring his mandibles, she backed away looking frightened and embarrassed.

"No Zah'zai", she whispered and he saw how a strange liquid poured from her eyes. He remembered that Vraa'hn had told him that her eyes exudated water when she was upset or sad. She slumped her shoulders in defeat and offered him the book. He gave her a questioning look. "Here Zah'zai, I'm clearly not worthy of your time. I'm sorry to have wasted so much of it already. Mahwa's training session is due to start soon, I'd better hurry."

"Stupid pup", he growled. "Did I tell you that I wanted that book back or that I was going to take back my promise to train you? Do you think so little of my honor?"

"I just thought that since I displeased you-"

"You presume too much Yeyinde", K'han said. "I will tell you when you're not welcome anymore, until then you're my pupil. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Zah'zai."

"Good", K'han said and pushed the book back toward her. "Since you've been disregarding your health the physical training won't start until tomorrow morning. Today you'll rest and eat properly and go to bed in time, we'll start early. You are permitted to study the book but you aren't allowed to stay up all night to do it. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Zah'zai", she replied and K'han could see a glimmer of hope and perhaps happiness in her eyes. For some reason that made him feel good as well, which was a strange feeling that he hadn't experienced as a teacher before. 'Curious', he thought.

"I'll expect you here tomorrow morning then", he said and walked past her toward the training grounds, even if he couldn't train her ha could always train himself.

_**XxX**_

The following morning he found her in the same spot, standing close to the wall, cradling the book close to her chest. She was still pale and the bruises hadn't quite faded yet but she looked much better. K'han nodded with approval. Even her eyes held a good spark within them; an interesting fire that held a hunger for knowledge that he would be more than willing to provide her with.

"Come with me", he said and gesticulated to her to follow him and she did so without saying anything and K'han wondered for a moment if she always was thins quiet. This would prove to be very different from training young, un-blooded yautja males. It remained to be seen though if the difference was good or not.

He took her to the large training hall that, except for a few older yautja, was empty. K'han had planned it that way since too much attention could disturb her. K'han had pondered upon the best way to teach the young Ooman battle and had come to the conclusion that he needed another outlook than the traditional teaching methods offered. She was not full of testosterone like the young males; she was not bloodthirsty or thickheaded like them. All in all, she was not built for battle. She was a female but not like their females. She lacked strength but K'han saw promise in her reflexes, agility and speed. She could be trained to use long-distance weapons and her small form was perfect for fighting in narrow spaces where the yautja for the most part were at disadvantage. The more he thought about it he realized her potential. It would be hard to teach her but it wouldn't be impossible. He would succeed with doing what most yautja thought impossible and turn a soft meat into a hunter.

"Sit down", he told her when they had reached an appropriate spot and she did so without questioning him. "Tell me Yeyinde, why do you think that I gave you that book?"

"To improve my fighting skills Zah'zai?" she asked and cocked her head to the side.

"Do you notice anything different about it?"

"It's written in yautja language Zah'zai but it's not the yautja way of battle", she answered and K'han smiled a little, she was smart.

"That's right", he said and sat down as well and gesticulated to her to give him the book. "This is a translated copy of Sza'h, the book of battle in our language. This is the Xah-hli way of battle."

"The Xah-hli Zah'zai?" she questioned. "Who are they?"

"They are a vicious kind of aliens", K'han said and picked a small skull from his belt and showed it to her. "They are small and very clever, they use tools like us yautja and they live in highly developed societies much like ours. They even have the hunt but in a bit different way than ours."

Yeyinde studied the skull in his hand. It was oddly shaped, like a triangle with spikes and four holes for the eyes. K'han shuddered; the battle against the ferocious creature hadn't been an easy one even though it had been so tiny.

"Do they make good trophies?" she asked and K'han smiled.

"They make very good trophies", he confirmed and nodded. "Do you understand why I want you to study their battle techniques and not ours?"

"Is it because of my size?" she asked and lowered her head as her cheek turned red for some reason. K'han cocked his head a bit to the side.

"It's not only that", he said. "It's also the fact that I think that you are clever enough to understand the importance of agility, speed and tactics. Something a young yautja wouldn't be able to do since he's too wrapped up in his own ego and strength. I myself would be unable to understand this book only fifty years ago."

"What do you mean Zah'zai?"

"I mean to tell you that there is still hope and that I can turn you into a lethal hunter that the likes of Kwo-hn and Kul'vir have reason to fear."

The look in her didn't fail to please him. She practically beamed with joy, showing of her ridiculously short and blunt teeth. She really wasn't good looking, at least not by yautja standards, but she had a pleasant air about her and her scent wasn't that bad either. It was actually something disturbingly female about her fragrance. K'han shook his head and wondered where to his thoughts had been straying. What she looked like shouldn't really be of any importance to him, except-

"You need to let your hair grow Yeyinde", he said and shook his head so that his own locks rattled against his armor. "When you're blooded you'll need to have somewhere to put your ornaments."

Yeyinde nodded and smiled again. "Yes Zah'zai."

"Good", he said and got up from the floor. "Let's get started then."

"Yes Zah'zai", she replied.

K'han could easily get used to her compliance.

_**XxX**_

Yeyinde stared wide eyed at her Zah'zai as he moved across the floor. It was impossible for her to understand how something so huge and powerful was able to move so gracefully. She felt clumsy in comparison as she tried to copy his movements; it wasn't easy. K'han had made it clear from the beginning that he wouldn't go easy on her. She was almost as battered after his training sessions as she had been after Mahwa's but the difference lay in the fact that she trusted K'han not to hurt her so badly that she wouldn't be able to recover. She hardly ever needed to use the healing gel after K'han's training sessions.

She was almost caught off guard when her Zah'zai made a jab at her. She ducked, made a somersault backward and got up on her feet just in time to almost get caught by his huge hand.

Yeyinde tried to remember the exact locations of the yautja pressure points as she ducked under his oncoming left fist. She dived close to his body and jammed her right fist into his abdominal brain and was rewarded with a grunt. When he reached for her she made another backwards somersault to get away to a safer distance. She could hear how he laughed which wasn't a good sign. Without mercy he charged her and ignored that she kicked him in his face. Yeyinde screamed when his heavy body landed on top of her, effectively pinning her down. She could smell his breath on her cheek and feel his impressive muscles against her entrapped limbs. She was stuck but refused to give up just yet, something she would have done only weeks prior to this. With a snarl she slammed her fist into his chin. K'han roared and Yeyinde was almost crushed underneath him as he rolled away from her.

They got up on their feet and stood facing each other for a while. Yeyinde noticed how K'han bled from his mouth but she didn't feel much better of herself. Her teacher crouched down and growled, Yeyinde took a defensive stance with her left arm ready to block an onslaught. He came at her with impressive speed and roaring like a thunderstorm. She avoided his first strike but was brought down by the second. With sweat pearling on her forehead she laid on her back and stared at the huge fist that had stopped only a few inches from her nose, if it had connected she would probably be dead or seriously injured. She swallowed against her dry throat as he clicked his mandibles in annoyance.

"Better", he muttered and helped her to get up. "Better but it's not good enough."

"I'm sorry Zah'zai."

"You are a staff", he told her unexpectedly and she blinked at him in surprise.

"A staff?"

"Yes", he grumbled. "And we yautja are wrist blades."

"What do you mean?"

"You are blunt Yeyinde and we are sharp", he tried to explain. "You need much skill to be able to kill with a staff but it is possible. You don't need as much skill to be able to kill with wrist blades. Do you see what I mean? You need to become much more skillful than an ordinary young yautja before I can allow you to go on your first hunt."

"My first hunt?" she echoed.

"Of course, there is a party leaving next Sah'ja and my goal is to have you leave with them."

Yeyinde stared at him open mouthed.

"But I thought you said that I was-"

"Blunt? – Yes I did – and you are, but you're improving, look you even made me bleed", he said and as if to emphasize he wiped some green blood from his mouth, clicking his mandibles in approval as he did so. "I think you are ready to move on to armed combat soon which will be in your favor. You really aren't built for hand to hand combat even if you've become good at finding the right pressure points, that last punch you dealt me was actually painful."

She felt pride as it swelled in her chest. Her Zah'zai had given her a compliment, it was backhanded but it made her feel good nonetheless.

"What have you learned from this fight Yeyinde?" he asked her.

"That I have to study harder and that I have to become more skillful", she summarized, it was almost always the same after each training session but she didn't feel put down by that fact. If anything it made her want to get better even more. She did not want to disappoint her Zah'zai after all the work he had put into her.

"Good, that'll have to do for today", he told her as the first couple of un-blooded entered the training hall for their daily exercise. "Do some running today Yeyinde and some weight training as well. Tomorrow I will bring wrist blades for you to try on."

"Thank you Zah'zai", she said and smiled but the smile died on her lips when her gaze fell upon a huge hunter that entered the training hall, followed by several others that she knew.

"Mahwa", she hissed and noticed how K'han tensed beside her.

Their eyes met. Yeyinde felt how her blood ran cold when recognition dawned in her former trainer's eyes. He too, like K'han, was huge even for a yautja. His skin was pale green with darker spots. One of his mandibles was missing; according to himself he had lost it in battle against a hard meat queen. Sometimes he was referred to as Dachande. Yeyinde couldn't keep herself from sneering.

"Yeyinde", Mahwa said, disdain evident in his voice. "It has been a while, have you decided to come and try your luck again?"

Yeyinde was about to reply to the badly concealed insult but K'han put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her behind him.

"This un-blooded is no longer any of your concern Mahwa", he said.

Mahwa narrowed his eyes. "And why is that K'han?"

"You're not skilled enough to train her, to put it simple, so I have decided to train her in your stead", K'han answered and the challenge in his voice was clear.

_Accept it or fight me._

Yeyinde stared at her Zah'zai. Did he really challenge Mahwa over the right to train her? The other yautja flared his mandibles and sunk down in a battle stance.

A battle was inevitable.

Yeyinde didn't even dare to breathe as K'han slowly walked toward Mahwa.

* * *

Yeyinde - ("Brave one")

Pyode Amedha - (Soft meats, humans)

Ooman – (slang for human)

Yau-th – (guardian, someone who's family)

Pup - (child)

Zah'zai - (venerable)

Sah'ja – (a time measurement equivalent to a month)


	7. Yeyinde pt 5

**Yeyinde pt. 5**

K'han had come to the conclusion that it was best to set matters straight with Mahwa before it got really ugly. To take away someone's student was an insult at best and a challenge to that yautja's pride at worst. K'han had known that the day when Mahwa would start to wonder about Yeyinde's whereabouts was approaching but he had hoped to avoid the confrontation for as long as possible, for Yeyinde's sake if nothing else. He himself wasn't worried about Mahwa. Sure enough, the hunter was skilled but not skilled enough and K'han was several years ahead of him where skill was concerned. This would prove to be a good morning exercise.

He approached the pale-skinned hunter, both of them stood at the ready and K'han could hear how Mahwa growled. Around them the juvenile yautja gave up their stunned hush at the unexpected challenge and roared for blood. It did not matter whose but K'han guessed that their loyalty and hopes lay with their trainer. He clicked his mandibles in amusement; he would show them that their teacher had yet a long way to go before he could measure up to a near-elder.

Mahwa punched at him and K'han slipped the move unthinkingly, surprised by the stupidity of it. To attack someone with K'han's experience head on should really be below Mahwa. But the younger hunter surprised K'han as he delivered another straight punch before K'han had regained his balance. The huge fist graced K'han's cheek and he hissed, not with pain but with rage. He shouldn't underestimate his adversary it seemed.

K'han grabbed Mahwa's hands and pushed them high with his own, twisting the thumbs as he did so. Mahwa screamed into his face, the shrill sound blended with the spectators whose numbers seemed to grow by the minute. K'han did not pause and he jerked his head forward. Their skulls met with a dull crack and K'han felt how one of Mahwa's mandibles made a small slash at his cheek but he didn't even flinch. Mahwa pulled his hands loose and staggered back, arms still held high, but dazed. K'han crouched down, flaring his mandibles and Mahwa did the same. They circled. By now the roaring from the spectators was deafening and K'han wondered briefly how many had arrived since the challenge was uttered.

Mahwa spread his arms wide, back hunched, and screamed. The sound was garbled with fury and K'han had no doubts about that he would try to kill him, if he could. Enough was enough, though. K'han locked his fingers together into two powerful fists and leapt. He landed beside the other hunter and brought his fists down hard into the still screaming Mahwa's back. Mahwa fell to the floor. His lower jaw smacked the mat quite audibly. K'han jumped back quickly as Mahwa regained his feet. Aware of his audience K'han moved with all the grace and skill he could muster. The motion was nearly perfect and any of the watchers who could recall even a bit of training would be impressed by the flow of it; which was the point. K'han wanted to make sure that Mahwa would be so humiliated that he never would dare to challenge him again, or Yeyinde.

Mahwa hissed and wiped away some blood that oozed from his mouth. If he was unlucky he would end up with two deformed mandibles. With a strangled cry the wounded and bleeding yautja sprang into action and rushed K'han with his fist extended. K'han ducked under the blow and delivered one of his own into Mahwa's gut, drawing out a pained cry from his already pissed of opponent. K'han fell away from Mahwa's second blow but was surprised by the kick that the other hunter threw his way. With a pained cry K'han fell away and got away to a safer distance. With a snarl he could establish that Mahwa might have succeeded in breaking a rib. If it was pure luck or skill he didn't know but it was serious enough. He would have to end this before it went bad. He did not want to kill Mahwa but if the other hunter pissed him off enough then he just might.

"C'jit", he grumbled.

With a hiss that sounded a bit too victorious for K'han's taste the other yautja lunged forward, fists extended.

'Give him credit for spirit', thought K'han.

Still it was poor form. K'han fell to his knees before Mahwa reached him and grasped the other hunter's over stretched arm with one hand, his nearer leg with the other. Suppressing a grunt from the pain that rushed through his body from the cracked rib, he strove to make the move appear as effortless as possible. As if the other hunter weighed no more than a suckling K'han stood and thrust Mahwa high over his head. The other hunter wriggled and hammered his free limbs against K'han's body to regain the floor, but to no avail. With a roar of victory K'han threw the other yautja across the room and into the nearest wall. For a short time no one moved. Finally, Mahwa staggered upright and walked slowly toward K'han, head bowed. The outcome was obvious and a further display of aggression would be dishonorable, not to mention stupid. K'han had won the pure win; _nain-desintje-de_. And Mahwa would just have to accept that Yeyinde no longer was any of his concern.

_**XxX **_

Yeyinde had watched the fight with both horror and pride. Horror because she feared that her Zah'zai would get hurt for her sake and pride because he clearly was the most skilled of the two. When Mahwa bowed his head in defeat she felt relief wash through her. It was over. She would never have to be humiliated by him again. His honor would hold him back, less he wanted to fight K'han again. She was worried though when she caught a glance of the defeated hunter's eyes. They burned with such humiliation and hate that she almost came to doubt her previous assumptions of victory. He wouldn't dare to touch her behind K'han's back, would he? Her Zah'zai didn't seem to notice Mahwa's facial expression, that or he didn't care. She bit her lip and tried to convince herself that she would deal with Mahwa if he tried anything. She was, after all, the pupil of the hunter that just had bested him so overwhelmingly.

K'han came over to her with his head held high. She noticed the blood on his cheek and even though he tried to conceal it she also noted that he was in some kind of pain.

She rushed to his side. "You're hurt Zah'zai", she exclaimed.

He gave her a warning glare and she bit her lip. "It's nothing", he growled. "I've got things to take care of now Yeyinde. I want you to continue your training like we agreed. From now on we'll train longer and harder than before."

"Yes Zah'zai", she said and bowed her head low.

'How stupid', she thought. 'Of course he doesn't want anyone to see that he's hurt. This was supposed to be an easy win. Mahwa must think that he stood no chance, less he'll try again.'

She watched as K'han left the training hall and noted how Mahwa had gathered his pupils around him to give them orders. He had to look strong in front of them or they'd lose their respect for him. From the corner of her eye she noted how Kwo-hn and Kul'vir stared at her. She decided to leave the hall before it turned ugly. After all, her Zah'zai had bested theirs and if she wasn't mistaken, the look that Kul'vir threw her was that of pure jealousy. He'd probably sacrifice his right mandible to be able to study under someone of K'han's ranking, knowing that Yeyinde set of from the hall with a smile on her lips. She would take advantage of everything K'han taught her and she would become a fighter worthy of praise.

She would show them! All of them!

She felt lighter and happier than she had in a long while she sat of running at high speed through the ship's corridors and stairs. She practiced somersaults and cartwheels as she went and paused only to practice blows and kicks toward imaginary opponents. Her Zah'zai had said that she would be able to go on a hunt soon. She would become a blooded warrior. She would hunt hard meats and return home with a trophy worthy of a hunter. This really was a good day.

When she returned to her cabin after her run she immediately started doing push-ups and sit-ups. She did two hundred of each kind and then did just as many lifts for the back. When she was done she turned to look at her own reflection in the mirror. The person that met her gaze actually brought a smile to her lips. It was a long time ago she had seen that person, at least eight years. That person had vanished the day that she had started training under Mahwa. Staring back at her was a confident young Ooman female with impressive muscles for someone of her size. Her now shoulder length hair was golden brown in color and was a bit curly. Her eyes were bright green and her nose was dusted with brown freckles. She supposed she didn't look too bad for an Ooman.

She laughed and sat down on her bed. It was a long time since she had considered herself to be worthy of any praise. With a bitter smile she remembered _that _day.

_**XxX**_

_She had been the first to arrive in the training hall. She had persisted that Vraa'hn wouldn't have to come with her. She wanted to take on the new challenge herself. But when the other younglings arrived in the hall she had felt a cold sting of fear. They were so huge. Even the young yautja was like mountains compared to her._

_And then the trainer had arrived. He was mean looking with a crooked mandible and sickly pale green skin. His eyes swept over his pupils and landed on Yeyinde with such impact that she almost could feel it. What she saw in them wasn't comforting. This hunter hated her and that without knowing her. It was as if her mere presence was an insult. She felt how she became smaller under his heavy gaze, all of a sudden she wished that Vraa'hn could be there and stand behind her like a rock of safety._

"_Students", the trainer clicked. "I won't be a nice trainer. Those unworthy of being here will be crushed. I won't accept any weaklings."_

_Yeyinde felt how not only she tensed at that. She licked her lips nervously and wanted to run away when the trainer approached her. He towered above her like a huge mountain and she felt how a tremor passed through her body but she refused to flinch when he lowered his head to look into her eyes. His were like bottomless pits. Merciless. _

"_I will enjoy breaking you, soft meat", he hissed and Yeyinde could hear how some of the other students snickered around them. "You'd better not disappoint me."_

_**XxX**_

Yeyinde sneered at the memory. He had broken her alright; not only her bones but also her spirit. He had banished the confident person that now was facing her in the mirror. But no more. K'han had fought Mahwa to make her stronger. One day she would be strong enough to fight for herself. The days of hiding behind others were over. Soft meats were worthy prey and she would become a worthy hunter, a worthy yautja.


	8. Yeyinde pt 6

**_Looks like this will be my first AN,_** I will make it short so that you can get on with your reading. First off, I'd like to thank my reviewers. You are few but I love you. Encouragement is always welcome and you don't need to be a registered author to leave an encouraging message.

I'd love to get more feedback on my characters so if you have a few moments to spare I'd love to hear your opinions. We're in for some smut soon, just so that you're prepared for that.

I'd also like to inform you that I've made some fanart on deviantart, only of K'han so far, we'll see if I get the time to make some more. You'll find the pic's at:

http[colon]//mortilias[dot]deviantart[dot]com

* * *

**Yeyinde pt. 6**

"Use your hip!" came the barked command.

Yeyinde stopped in mid-movement and threw a look at her Zah'zai. He made a motion with his right hip and slowly extended his right arm and with it the wrist blades. She balled her hand into a fist and tried the movement again, this time making sure to work with all of her body.

Just before she had extended her arm too far she tensed the muscles in her arm and with a scraping noise the wrist blade was released.

"Good", said K'han. "Now, defend yourself."

She didn't even have the time to stop and think before her Zah'zai dove at her with his own wrist blades extended, she had to leap back and avoided being impaled by the blades with only a finger breadth. Yeyinde could hear how K'han clicked his approval. She herself was far from satisfied with her move though; all she had done was to delay her death for a while. If this had been a real fight she might be dead within the next move the huge hunter made. She sank down low and parried a blow toward the head with her lower left arm, and then she drove her right arm and the extended wrist blades almost into her Zah'zai's side, missing the target on purpose. She made a summersault backwards and rolled away to a safer distance. When she got up again her Zah'zai stood still, facing her with an unreadable expression on his face. She stopped and regarded him, worried that she had done something wrong somehow.

"Acceptable", he said after a while, giving her a half-smile. "You might even have succeeded to kill me." He withdrew his wrist blades and came over to her and put a huge hand on her shoulder. "I think that you are ready to face the real challenge by the end of this month. Do you feel ready?"

"I do Zah'zai", she mumbled.

"Good, I will see to that you will get a place in the hunting team."

Yeyinde smiled. "What will happen after the hunting trip Zah'zai?"

"You'll be an adult then Yeyinde", he said and started to walk out of the training hall. "What you choose to do then is up to you."

She followed him, feeling a bit anxious. "Will we not train together anymore?"

"We might", he said and turned around to face her for a while before he started walking again. "But if you return from that hunting trip victorious you'll be able to see to your own training. Every hunter has to develop his own unique skill. I can only teach you the basics, you yourself have to find a way to minimize your weaknesses and use your strengths to your advantage."

She stopped in the doorway and watched him leave, not feeling quite sure about if she should follow him or not. He didn't turn around and she was left feeling strangely empty. The funny thing was that she had longed for this moment, for her trainer to tell her that she was strong enough, that it was the end of her days as an un-blooded. But now she felt abandoned. She looked at the wrist blades that K'han had given her and withdrew them with an angry hiss. She was pathetic for wanting to hide behind her trainer even though he himself had told her she was ready to stand on her own. Yeyinde turned around and went back into the training hall. Some more training would take her mind of things.

She closed her eyes and tried to breathe regularly; in and out, in and out. She opened her eyes again and sank down into battle position with her right arm positioned parallel with the floor and her left arm higher up, ready to block if needed be. She took a step forward and struck the empty air with her right fist.

Then she followed up with a strike with her left arm.

She lost herself to the feeling and sank down, mimicking the movement that had defeated K'han only moments ago. Blocking an imaginary strike toward the head and struck out with her right hand in a hook, feeling pleasure at the sound of her extending wrist blade.

Yeyinde backed away as she imagined that her opponent made a blow toward her head and so she thrust her left arm into the air in a parry and then another one in front of her face and her stomach. Standing like that she felt confident enough to try a right kick toward her imaginary opponent, roaring a battle cry as she did so. In a smooth movement she brought down her foot and was once more in a defensive stance.

"Would you look at that Kwo-hn", a voice spoke from the door. "The little soft meat has been given a pair of wrist blades. How are you doing _Yeyinde?_"

She froze for a moment, feeling the familiar sensation of fear as it spread through her body but then she straightened up and turned around to face the two hunters she knew was watching her from the doorway. She glanced over them quickly; none of them had changed a bit. Kwo-hn was still as huge and Kul'vir was still as mean looking. She herself had changed though and the terror she once had felt whenever they had approached her refused to settle in her body.

"Why, I'm doing fine Kul'vir", she sneered and relished in the way his face darkened when she didn't show any signs of fear. "How are _you_ doing? Have that looser Mahwa taught you anything of value these past months?"

"Watch your tongue Tarei'hasan", said Kwo-hn and growled.

Yeyinde still couldn't understand why she didn't get frightened. "I'm not going to watch my tongue", she told them with a sneer. "But you should."

"Why?" Kwo-hn laughed. "And for what reason Tarei'hasan?"

"For that exact reason Pauk-de", she snarled.

"So you don't like me calling you Tarei'hasan?" he asked. "Big deal, what could you ever do to stop me?"

"I'd challenge you", she said without missing a beat.

"You'd do what?" he asked in bewilderment.

"You heard me", she growled and sank down into battle position. "Listen, I'll even give you a handicap and remove my wrist blades. We un-blooded are sadly enough forbidden to participate in a duel to the death." She removed her wrist blades and let them fall to the floor.

Kwo-hn still looked at her as if she had lost her mind. Yeyinde ground her teeth together and roared at him in a quite good reinterpretation of a battle cry.

"Come on you coward", she sneered.

That did it. She could almost see how Kwo-hn lost it. He ran toward her, just as she had anticipated. She stood stock still and waited for him to get in range. When he punched at her she ducked swiftly under his arm and got in close to deliver a heavy blow to his stomach. It connected perfectly. Kwo-hn stopped his furious attack and made a gurgling noise, she had successfully hit the abdominal brain. Yeyinde took advantage of his surprise and made a sweep at his legs; the huge yautja staggered and fell to the floor. Yeyinde didn't miss a beat. She wouldn't let him get up on his feet again. She wouldn't let him regain the floor and perhaps shape up a bit now that he must've realized that she was both much quicker and stronger than before.

She cried out in victory and smashed her right fist into throat; the crushing noise she was rewarded with was like music in her ears. She punched her left fist into a soft spot on the side of Kwo-hn's head and saw how the lights went out of his eyes. He was unconscious. Dhi'ki-de. She got up on her feet crying out her victory for the whole training hall to hear it. She had beaten Kwo-hn fair and square in a duel.

"Take that you coward", she snarled and turned to look at Kul'vir that stood passive in the doorframe still. "And how about you? Would you like a bit of what he received s'yuit-de!"

"It won't be as easy to fight me", he warned and approached her slowly.

"You'll never know until you've tried", she retorted and once again resumed battle position, hiju.

"You'll regret it", he said coldly and to her surprise he sank down into a defensive stance, hiju-de.

Yeyinde growled. Trust Kul'vir to make it hard on her. He must've realized that she was better at defending and counter than attacking. She wouldn't allow him to best her however. With a shout she rushed at him, wary of his bigger range. When she got close enough for him to strike he immediately did so and Yeyinde ducked and like before she tried to get in close. Kul'vir however must have accounted for that because he swiftly delivered a low blow with his left fist that connected painfully with her left side. Yeyinde made a fall backward and cushioned the impact against the floor by rolling away, thus also increasing the distance to her opponent. He made no move to follow her.

"C'jit!" she cursed. He'd seen her fight of course. He knew that knew some fancy steps. If she tried anything ordinary on him, this genius of combat would know exactly what was going to happen and would be a couple of steps ahead of her.

"Well you bastard", she muttered. "Luckily I've got some new moves."

She attacked. If anything she was in much better shape now than she had been when she was in her old training group. More limber and agile, and she put it all to the test in just under two seconds. She feinted, flipped, rolled, rolled, retreated, rolled, ran, fell and then thrust upward toward the place she knew was most vulnerable. The abdominal brain.

The moves clearly surprised Kul'vir.

Nonetheless, he wasn't quite in the spot where he was supposed to be, probably due to the fact that he was shorter than the usual yautja, so her fist didn't connect with the right pressure point. Even so she must've hit partly right, perhaps nicked a few of his ribs, because he grunted with pain and staggered a bit backward. Roaring at her as he did so and then he rushed at her bringing his own right fist down toward her.

Mistake.

She dodged the thrust, grasped his arm by its base, and the torque of her body in such a way as to capitalize on the momentum he had generated.

Her legs went up, and she executed a perfect flip. Kul'vir fell to the floor with a loud bang. She followed up with a kick to his stomach and the sound of his ribs cracking made her smile grimly.

"Payback's a bitch", she snarled and sank her right knee deep down into his abdominal brain. Spit flew from his mouth and he roared in pain. Yeyinde balled her right fist and slammed it into the sensitive spot on the side of his head.

"Bitch", he gurgled.

She snarled at him and hit his head again. The lights went out of his eyes and so, in only a few minutes she had succeeded in beating two of her worst enemies. She got up and watched them for a while, feeling the sweetness of victory. They would never dare to speak lowly of her again, not if their honor was dear to them. She raised her hand into the air and cried out in victory. The movement sent jolts of pain through her body and she realized that Kul'vir must've succeeded to break a rib or two.

She sneered. "Trust that bastard to ruin a perfect day."

She turned to leave but stood stock still as she thought she had seen someone standing in the doorframe but the corridor was empty when she got there to have a closer look.

'Must be my imagination', she muttered and headed for the infirmary. She might as well tell them that Kwo-hn and Kul'vir needed medical attention. After all, she wasn't allowed to kill them.

"Perhaps I should pay Vraa'hn a visit later on tonight", she mused. "I must tell him that Zah'zai have deemed me worthy to participate in the hunt."

_**XxX **_

She hadn't followed him. K'han exhaled and stopped for a while. That had been hard. To sewer the bound that he had created between them. But that was the way of the yautja; he couldn't allow them to grow too close.

'She must learn to stand on her own', he though and ground his teeth together.

Then why was it so hard? He had sent numerous students on their way and never even felt the smallest amount of regret and still- still she awoke these strange protective feelings inside of him that he was unaware of even existed. For the first time he understood Vraa'hn's protectiveness over her. She seemed so helpless and innocent in a world built on battle and iron will. For some reason he wanted to be there for her and keep her out of harm's way.

That didn't do. He had to keep well away from those feelings.

Two young yautja passed him by but he didn't pay them any mind until it registered in his brain that he knew those two from before.

'Kwo-hn and Kul'vir', he thought and watched how they made their way toward the training hall. Toward Yeyinde.

He stood still for a long while, torn between the want to go back and see to that they didn't hurt her and the need to walk away and let her handle it on her own.

'But what if they hurt her', he debated with himself. 'What if they hurt her badly?'

His body made the decision for him and started walking back to the training hall. The scene that met him when he arrived back to the training hall was something else completely than he had feared. Yeyinde had defeated Kwo-hn and was well on her way to defeat Kul'vir. She moved with such agility and perfection that he almost was dumbfounded. Was this really the same person that he had started training only months before?

He watched as she executed a perfect flip and brought Kul'vir heavily down to the floor with a loud bang. K'han felt how his chest swelled with great pride as she rendered the other yautja unconscious and roared her victory for everyone to hear. A pure win. _Nain-desintje-de_. K'han almost joined in. It was as if he himself had won the battle.

"She has no more need of me", he mumbled to himself as he watched the proud little figure of his student. "All that is left for me to do is to prepare her for the hunting trip."

He turned around and left not wanting her to realize that he had worried for her safety. That he had doubted her skill. It was for the best if they didn't grow too close. The feelings he felt for her wasn't healthy nor were they professional. They were something else. Something a trainer shouldn't feel for a student. Something a yautja shouldn't feel for a soft meat.

_**XxX **_

Yeyinde got out of the infirmary rather quickly after the medic had assessed her injuries and applied the healing gel. She had never liked that place it was a sign of weakness and she had been there far too many times. She even knew the name of every yautja that worked there. She smiled in spite of herself. It wasn't that they weren't nice to her, they were too nice. As if she was a child still and she wasn't soon she wouldn't even be an un-blooded youth anymore. She would be a blooded warrior. If she survived that is.

She smiled grimly when she met with the medics that brought Kwo-hn and Kul'vir back to the infirmary. They were still unconscious but would be in for a hell of a lot of pain when they woke up.

'Serves them right', she thought and opened the door to the stairwell and started to climb up to the nineteenth level. 'I hope they feel half of the humiliation I've been suffering from these past eight years.'

She got out in the corridor on the nineteenth level and then turned right. Her Yau-th's quarters were behind the two hundred and thirteenth door to the left. She raised a hand and knocked. Vraa'hn should be in at this time of the day. It was almost time for dinner.

A few seconds passed by and then the door opened. Vraa'hn stood facing her on the other side. It had been a while since she last saw him. She couldn't help but smile. His appearance alone spread warmth and comfort through her body.

"Yau-th", she said humbly and lowered her head in greeting.

"Yeyinde", he said and stepped aside and allowed her to enter.

His quarters weren't as big or as luxurious as K'han's but they were still huge in comparison to her own. They were familiar though as she had been raised here. They still smelled of home and safety. Vraa'hn motioned for her to go and sit down in one of the two, huge, armchairs. Yeyinde smiled and picked her favorite one that was draped with white furs.

"How are you Yau-th?" she asked. "Is your training working out well?"

"Yes", he murmured and sat down opposite to her in the other armchair. "And yours?"

"I beat Kwo-hn and Kul'vir today", she informed.

"Did they attack you?" he asked and Yeyinde though she caught a note of aggression in his voice.

"They might have", she mumbled and couldn't keep a grim smile from spreading over her lips. "But I challenged them instead and won in a fair duel. _Nain-desintje-de._"

Vraa'hn looked so flabbergasted that Yeyinde almost felt offended. "It's true", she growled and her Yau-th blinked in surprise.

Then he started laughing.

"By Paya", he said. "I've been praying for this day for several years. You must tell me everything about it over dinner. Would you like to join me?"

"You know that I'd love to Yau-th", she said and smiled. "We'll also have to celebrate that I'm due to go on my first hunt at the end of the month."

"It would seem that I'm indebted to K'han", Vraa'hn said and stood up to go and fetch their dinner from the food shutter. "He's done a mighty good job with you."

"He said that we wouldn't be able to train like before when I got back from the hunt", she mumbled and felt a stab of sadness.

"That's the yautja way", Vraa'hn said and sounded surprised. "You should be proud."

"I am", she said and forced the tears back. "But it makes me sad. I like him."

Vraa'hn paused with whatever he was doing before he returned with their meal. A juicy stake accompanied by s'pke and two goblets with water. He sat down and offered her a plate and a goblet.

"There is nothing to be sad over", he said after a while. "You will still see each other, only not as much as before."

She nodded. It made sense of course. Her yau-th was right and she was being silly.

"Here's to your victory!" Vraa'hn said and raised his goblet in a toast and Yeyinde joined him. "And to your upcoming first hunt, I will wait here and hope for your safe return."

"To victory", she mumbled.


	9. Yeyinde pt 7

I'm clearly spoiling you. Here is the next chapter.

There will be no new chapters next week though. I will go to Italy for a vacation in the alps.

* * *

**Yeyinde pt. 7**

The dead planet laid foreboding underneath them. Yeyinde felt pearls of sweat on her forehead, under the mask. She checked her weapons for the fifteenth time. Wrist blades, _check,_ spear gun, _check_, net gun, _check_, combi-stick, _check_, smart disc, _check_, shuriken, _check_, arm blades, _check_ and- she glanced at the wrist console panel and swallowed against her dry throat -the self destruct devise. All preparations were made. For the first time of her life she was dressed up in armor, body mesh and all. She even wore a custom made helmet that K'han had given her as a good-luck present.

She glanced around at the other un-blooded, soon to be blooded or die trying, yautja; some of them she recognized, Duh-kwe'h only to mention one. He looked hard-set with his focus solely on the black planet beneath them. It would be favorable to have a companion once they landed and Yeyinde felt confidence in Duh-kwe'h's skill, she didn't even hold a grudge toward him even though he had beaten her black and blue in the past. He must have sensed that she was watching him because he turned to look at her. His face was expressionless even though he hadn't put on his mask yet. After what felt like ages he came over to her. Yeyinde cocked her head to the side, unsure about what she should say. Fortunately he made the first move.

"I heard that you beat Kwo-hn and Kul'vir in a duel", he said and stared at her. For a while she feared that he was angry with her because of it but his face showed no evident signs of aggression.

"Yes", she answered stiffly, unsure about what he was getting at.

"It was about time", he said gruffly and sat down beside her. "I would've loved to see it."

"Thanks", she said perplexed. "I guess."

"Mahwa wasn't fair to you", he muttered and Yeyinde guessed that was as close as he ever would get to an apology for all the broken bones he had made her suffer trough. "I suppose K'han must be a brilliant trainer since you're already ready for your first hunt."

"Mahwa's unfairness has made me stronger", she said and marveled over how she succeeded to keep the old hatred out of her voice. The dark past seemed to be behind her. "K'han was a very good teacher, I'm very grateful for the effort he put into me and my education."

"That's good", Duh-kwe'h said.

An uncomfortable silence steeled between them. Yeyinde guessed that the moment when they would be dropped on the seemingly deserted planet approached.

"So", she said and pretended to be occupied with her sat-com. "I guess you're as new with this kind of thing as me."

He muttered an audible response and Yeyinde licked her lips nervously, unsure about how she should put forward the idea of teaming up without sounding as if she needed protection.

"Wouldn't it be favorable to move in as a team as opposed to move in alone?" she asked and almost bit her tongue in regret.

"Yes", he replied and she blinked at him in surprise. "It would be more favorable."

"Good", she said and laughed nervously. "I guess."

He nodded and then the uncomfortable silence settled in again. Yeyinde was almost relieved when the alarm went off. It was time for them to get into their shuttles. She gave Duh-kwe'h a nod and then she got into hers. It was warm in there and very narrow, she could hardly move about and wondered how in the whole world a fully grown yautja could fit inside. She closed her eyes and listened to the beeping countdown.

'Three, two, one-'

She felt a surge in the pit of her stomach and then she was free falling at high speed down toward the black planet.

"Dear Paya", she said and crossed her fingers. "Please let me live through this."

The impact when the shuttle hit the ground was hard and Yeyinde almost lost her breath. For a while she just sat there, listening to the sound of her own heart beating hard against her ribcage. Now there was no turning back. She would kill hard meats or get killed. There was no other option. With a sigh she pushed the button to the door and got out. The black desert landscape that faced her spoke of horrid death and ice cold loneliness. It was as if nothing lived on this planet's surface even though she knew that there must be life out there somewhere or otherwise the hard meats wouldn't have any hosts. She suppressed a shiver when she was hit by a cold wind and she felt ever so grateful for the body mesh, she probably would've frozen to death without it. She looked around for the other yautja and saw a small group of them as they moved away over a black hill. She wondered where Duh-kwe'h had landed and looked for his heat signature with the infrared vision and found it behind the next hill. She picked up her combi-stick and started running soon meeting up with Duh-kwe'h that apparently had waited for her. She sighed with relief.

"Where are we headed?" she asked.

He switched on his sat-com that sowed a three-dimensional picture of the nearest area. He pointed at what looked like a building or a spaceship perhaps and Yeyinde nodded. Chances were good that the hard meat had set up their nest in that building.

"Let's go then", she muttered and together they started running.

When they had made their way over the nearest sand dune Yeyinde got a first look at their target. It was indeed a space ship but it wasn't of yautja making. It was smaller and looked as if it was meant to hold cargo. Yeyinde licked her lips and the realization that she was headed for the Kainde Amedha's nest. Further along she saw the other young hunters, they were three in total.

"Our main objective is to destroy that ship, isn't it?"

"If everything else fails", Duh-kwe'h said. "We must take trophies first."

He really wasn't one for small talks; that was for sure. Yeyinde nodded and started to head down from the sand dune. She wanted this over and done with as soon as possible. From the corner of her eye she noticed that Duh-kwe'h followed her. It felt good to have him watch her back. She was just about to turn her focus back to the space ship when she caught a movement from the corner of her eye. It might just have been her imagination but she switched her visual frequency to the specifically tuned EM Field Detector mode used to track xenomorphs just to be on the safe side. Something definitely moved on the other side of that sand dune. She stopped and pointed in that direction so that Duh-kwe'h would become aware of it. He stopped right beside her. Suddenly Yeyinde heard what sounded like a bird and turned; Duh-kwe'h was faster though – he ran past her toward the sand dune behind them. He was eager and if he had any fear of the Kainde Amedha, it was not apparent. Yeyinde stood still for a while before what was happening caught up with her, and then she hurled herself after her comrade.

At first it was just one that came running toward them from behind the dune. It was the most hideous and terrifying thing that Yeyinde had ever seen. It had a skeletal, biomechanical appearance and was colored in a muted shade of black. It had an elongated, cylindrical skull and six legs. It looked a bit like an ant. Yeyinde wondered briefly how the host had looked but then she got other things on her mind as more aliens came running toward them. She was three meters behind Duh-kwe'h when he jabbed the staff point trough the jaws of the first bug, he twisted the sharp blade and dug a hole through the top of the skull, quickly withdrawing it so that he wouldn't get the acid blood on him. Two more bugs succeeded to reach him before Yeyinde did so; and she saw how they angled in from the sides. Duh-kwe'h spun, swung completely around, cut them through their midsections in one strike. He howled in victory but there was no time to celebrate. Yeyinde had reached him now and stood prepared as six more hard meats came running. She steeled herself. She had to make it, had to prove herself worthy. There was no more time to think, they were upon them.

Yeyinde spun. The hellish creature reached for her, she whipped her arm around, tried to impale it with her combi-stick as Duh-kwe'h had done but the point of her staff glided of the creature's hard skin. The nightmare bug towered over her, shrieking. Slime dripped from its metallic jaws. Its huge mouth opened, exposed a set of inner teeth, razor sharp. Yeyinde recognized death when she saw it.

She stumbled backward as the inner jaws snapped forward and smacked into her chest. Something ripped. White hot pain seared her skin, blood flowed. She ground her teeth, this couldn't be it. She couldn't die here. The dark warrior had to wait. She tightened her arm muscles and extended the longer arm blades and with a battle cry she cut of the hideous little mouth that had caused her pain. The creature snarled and stumbled backward, its acid blood spilling all over. Yeyinde hissed as it fell upon her armor. She got up from the ground and twirled her combi-stick, this time she was prepared for the bug's thick skin. She ran forward, rolled, ran, fell and then thrust the razor-sharp tip of her combi-stick into the venerable mid-section of the hard meat. Acid blood sprayed all over and the bug fell screaming to the ground. She had killed her first Kainde Amedha. Joy filled her but there was no point in dwelling on her victory because there were still five bugs left.

As the first two rushed to attack her, she side-stepped and thrust the combi-stick out. The closest one caught it in the mid-section; it screamed and collapsed on the ground. The second rammed its head directly into the durable blade; the top of its head sliced neatly from its body, the acid blood fountained and Yeyinde had to jump back so that she wouldn't get hit. Her armor was messed up as it was and she really didn't want any of the stuff on her bare skin.

Duh-kwe'h threw his shuriken to her left, the sound razor-sharp as it flew through the air. Two of the running bugs fell. Four of five down. Duh-kwe'h stepped in to take out the last one and Yeyinde stayed back, shuriken ready just in case. The last hard meat seemed not to see its fallen siblings. The creature ran straight at the young yautja, shrieking. Duh-kwe'h jumped to the side as the bug neared, spear held to the other side-

Except the hard meat matched his move.

And hit him, running full speed.

Yeyinde aimed past Duh-kwe'h and threw her shuriken. It missed. She didn't dare to throw it again less she missed the hard meat again but hit Duh-kwe'h. She caught her shuriken as it came flying back just as she heard Duh-kwe'h roar in pain as the hard meat drove its inner jaws into his shoulder. Yeyinde had no time to think. She hurled herself forward and tackled the hard meat of Duh-kwe'h's chest. She extended her arm blades and drove them into the bug's head. It convulsed underneath her and she threw herself of it, feeling the pain from the acid blood on her hands.

Panting heavily she turned to look at Duh-kwe'h that had regained his feet, looking almost as tired as she felt. But they had made it. They had slayed their first Kainde Amedha. She had to make a quick count of the scores. She had killed four and Duh-kwe'h had killed five.

She hissed as she became aware of the blood that flowed from her wound. It wasn't deep but it hurt like hell. She fetched her medikit from her belt and applied some blue healing gel on her wound. She snarled at the stinging sensation. From the corner of her eye she noted that Duh-kwe'h tended to his own wound, they didn't seem too serious either.

Yeyinde looked at the fallen Kainde Amedha. How many of them made good trophies? The one that had almost killed her was probably the best choice and she couldn't bring all of their skulls. She nodded to herself and walked over to the dead hard meat with her arm blades extended. She had never prepared a trophy before but felt confident that either her Zah'zai or Vraa'hn would show her when- if- she got back onboard on the mother ship. She crouched down and cut of the hard meats neck in a swift movement. She was grateful for the fact that both the arm blades and the wrist blades nowadays was made out of the same material as the combi-stick. Acid-proof. She had heard stories of hunters that had their blades destroyed by the acid blood. The head fell to the ground with a thump; yellowish, acid blood spraying over the black sand with a hissing noise. She got up from the ground, placing the acquired trophy on her back as she did so. Then she realized that she had forgotten the most important thing. She got back down and cut of a finger from the dead enemy.

I'll have to mark myself as a worthy hunter.

She took of her mask and held her breath; she didn't dare to risk breathing since the air could be toxic. As hastily as possible she drew her Zah'zai's mark on her mask a circle with a jagged lightning bolt running straight through it. That done she did the same on her own forehead; it hurt badly but she had no time to dwell, she needed to get the mast back on again before she breathed by mistake. When the mask was back on again she drew a deep breath of relief. She had made it.

She turned around and looked at Duh-kwe'h. He had collected two heads and seemed to be done with his marking. Both of them turned their heads upwards to the black sky and roared their victory. She was un-blooded no more. She was a blooded hunter.

The hardest part lay before them though. They needed to destroy the Kainde Amedha's nest. The empty ghost ship lay before them, foreboding. Yeyinde swallowed against her dry throat. Their best bets were on getting in there and activate their bombs. She looked at Duh-kwe'h.

"We need to contact the others", he clicked. "See if they have made it inside."

"Can you do that?" she asked.

"Yes", he said and pressed a few buttons on his wrist console panel.

They waited for a while. The minutes seemed to crawl by.

"Oc'djy is dead", he said after a while. "Kanh'ka is wounded but Gr'aal is fine, we decided to meet up with them in sector six."

"What happened?" she asked.

"Many hard meats", Duh-kwe'h said and started running. Yeyinde followed him.

When they reached the base of the ship a ghostly, pale moon had raised on the black night sky. Yeyinde shuddered. The whole atmosphere was heavy with death. They had passed a few dead hard meats on their way down to the ship and she guessed that the other yautja had been unlucky enough to run into a whole pack of them. They found the two remaining yautja. Yeyinde noted how Kanh'ka was covered in blood; he seemed a bit unsteady as well.

"What's the plan?" Duh-kwe'h asked when they approached.

"The queen has gathered her young ones around her, she senses that a threat is close by", Gr'aal said. "We have no burners; our only chance is to blow up the ship."

Duh-kwe'h nodded. "If we can get into the center of the ship we'll also be able to destroy the egg-chamber."

"Good plan."

Gr'aal gesticulated for them to follow him. They crept into the open space in front of the shield wall as quietly as possible. As they neared the main loading entrance of the strange ship Yeyinde noticed that the middle steel entry was halfway open. Yeyinde hoped that whatever waited for them on the other side wouldn't attack until they had planted their bombs. A vain thought of course. They reached the bottom of the ramp and Yeyinde looked up into the black interior and felt grateful for her mask. Without it she would've been blind. The metal door was raised horizontally, exactly the right height to let the hard meats come and go. She took a first tentative step onto the ramp. From somewhere inside she heard a low hiss. The darkness stirred. The shadows shifted. She could hear the clatter of alien movement, and then silence. Gr'aal had raised his combi-stick and everyone else followed suit. It was better to be prepared. They walked into the pitch black darkness and Yeyinde could hear how her heart hammered against her chest.

She looked at the walls; there was alien spoor all over the place; an odd, wet metal smell. From the ceiling and the walls hung what looked like flesh, green blood and some unidentified body parts. They pressed forward, her adrenaline was pumping. It was hot inside of the ship compared to the blistering cold outside.

Yeyinde scanned the long, dark corridor through the eyes of the mask; the alien spittle secretion could provide camouflage fir hiding bugs. But she saw nothing.

They crept forward. It seemed like an eternity before they would reach the center.

At the end of the corridor there was another door, it was open.

Yeyinde could hear the Kainde Amedha as the skittered somewhere beyond. She saw that the other hunters had to crouch down to get through the portal. She herself had no such problem though. The ceiling on the other side was lower. It would be a problem for the huge yautja to fight in a narrow space like that. They moved forward in the thick darkness.

As they neared the end of the second hallway, Yeyinde heard another alien chatter, close. It came from _above_ them.

Three aliens dropped from the ceiling. They must've been keeping perfectly still for them not to notice them with their specifically tuned EM Field Detectors. The ugly creatures ran toward them, shrieking as they did so. The first fell by Kanh'ka's combi-stick and Duh-kwe'h got the second with his. Both of the hard meats fell to the floor, convulsing as they did so. The third one was headed straight for Yeyinde. She turned and got it with her wrist blades, a slashing jab to the bug's throat.

They started moving again. Pretty soon they reached a stairwell that led upward. Chances were good that they pretty soon would be in the heart of the ship, where the egg-chamber probably was. Gr'aal was first out to start and climb the stairs. Duh-kwe'h followed him and Yeyinde was close behind him. She could hear Kanh'ka's footsteps behind her. It felt good that someone had her back. They came to an abrupt halt as a bug dropped down in front of Gr'aal. It hissed and showed its lethal teeth. It seemed they had to keep an eye on the ceiling. The creature jumped but was to slow; Gr'aal got it out of balance with his combi-stick and impaled it with his arm blades. It shrieked in agony before it went limp. Gr'aal withdrew his arm blades with a sharp sound. The pressed onward again and soon found themselves on the second level and found themselves staring at what seemed to be the egg chamber. Yeyinde breathed a sigh of relief. They had made it. But where were the hard meats? And more importantly, where was the queen?

She felt cold terror only by thinking of that monster. She really had no desire to run into one. Not without a burner. Not without at least fifteen more hunters by her side.

Gr'aal took of his right wrist console and pushed a few buttons. Yeyinde snapped out of her thoughts and did the same, queen or no queen; they needed to destroy this ship.

They threw their bombs to the floor. Now they had just about four minutes to get out or else they were fucked as well.

Now there was no time for sneaking. They ran.

And ran.

The few bugs that came at them were disposed off in a sloppy way. None of them cared if they left wounded half dead hard meats behind. They would be dead soon enough anyway.

Yeyinde felt a huge relief when they reached the exit.

Her relief was short-lived though as she heard a shriek from behind. Kanh'ka had fallen. Something huge, terribly huge, had him impaled on a scorpion-like tail. Green blood flowed from his mouth and his body convulsed. Yeyinde couldn't believe her eyes. The monster that had materialized from the darkness couldn't be a drone. It was far too huge. It made a fully grown yautja look like a suckling. Yeyinde felt how her mouth went dry. What she was looking at was-

"A queen!" she screamed.

There was no time.

She threw her shuriken at the monster without slowing down. Behind them a huge explosion was heard. She was thrown forward and so was the queen.

'Please let me make it', she though and then she hit the ground hard.

The heat washed over them and somewhere in the smoke and dust she could hear how the queen screamed. She could see a dark figure further along and then two more. Gr'aal and Duh-kwe'h had regained their feet and was now attacking the queen. If they felt any fear they sure as hell didn't show it.

Yeyinde got up on her feet. Feeling badly shaken and the sound from the explosion rang in her head. She felt sore all over.

'No time to think about your wounds', she thought and ground her teeth. 'We have to kill that monster if we want to make it out alive.'

She heard a shriek of agony and saw how Duh-kwe'h was impaled by the queen's tail. He was thrown away and landed several meters away. He did not move.

Yeyinde had no time to make sure if he was alive or not. She released her wrist blades and ran toward the queen. Fear was deadly. She would not fear death or hurt. If she feared, if she hesitated, she would die and that was that. K'han had told her not to fear the battle. She had to heed his advice.

She succeeded to cut one of the queen's legs. The huge monster staggered a bit and that was all the hesitation that Gr'aal needed. The young and obviously skilled hunter leapt forward, rolled, flipped, rolled, retreated and then leapt high in the air and threw his combi-stick at the queen's head. It went straight through and the huge monster cried out in pain. Yeyinde rolled away to avoid her death throes. She succeeded but Gr'aal was hit by the tail. It threw him off and he fell to the ground in what seemed to be a painful manner. Yeyinde could hear him grunt. He was alive.

She got up on shaky legs.

They had killed a queen.

They had killed a queen without burners.

What a glorious day.

She went over to Duh-kwe'h and bent down to look at his injuries. They were severe but he was still alive. Perhaps if they got help from the mother ship he would make it. She pushed a few buttons on her left wrist console.

_Pick us up,_ she typed. _Hunter seriously wounded, mission complete_. She hesitated for a while before she with a smile, added. _Killed queen._

'Zah'zai and Yau-th will be proud', she thought and for some reason that filled her with more happiness than the thought of being alive did.


	10. Yeyinde pt 8

**Yeyinde pt. 8**

The bright light blinded her when she walked onboard the mother ship, she carried her trophy on her back and she couldn't remember the last time she had felt this proud. She limped a bit and the wound from the kainde amedha hurt pretty badly but she was alive. _She was alive_ and she had come home victorious, not only had she killed her first hard meat, she had also helped to kill a hard meat queen. She glanced behind her and noticed how Duh-kwe'h struggled to stay on his feet but she knew that he'd rather die than accepting any kind of help. Gr'aal walked beside her, he didn't say anything, but the hard meat queen's head on his back said it all.

They stopped in front of the huge door to the main hall.

_Dun_

_Dun_

_Dun_

A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, they had started the drumming. She had almost forgotten about the traditional festivities that took place after the hunt, especially after the Hard Meat Trial, _Kainde Amedha Chiva_. She closed her eyes and listened to her beating heart as it blended with the rhythmic drumming on the other side of the door and realized that she was nervous. For the first time of her life she was the one in center of attention. _She_ was the one coming through those doors with a hard meat skull on her back. _She_ was one of those returning as a _blooded hunter_.

The doors hissed as they slid apart. Yeyinde took a deep breath and entered the main hall together with Gr'aal. The roar that erupted as they passed through the door was deafening and mixed with the erratic beating of the drums. It seemed like the whole ship were there to greet them. The crowd split apart for them as they made their way to the small podium that had been raised for them. There were six chairs but only three of them would be used. Her legs felt like jelly as she climbed the stairs, she had stood in the crowd on numerous occasions but this was something entirely different. They had made the podium for her, to honor her bravery and skill and the drummers drummed to praise her victory and the dancing, she smiled broadly, the dancing would be to commend her good hunting.

The food and the drinks was all for her sake. "Dear Paya", she whispered and sat down in the chair. "If this is a dream, do not ever wake me up."

A young blood with green skin and brown stripes climbed the stairs and offered her, Gr'aal and Duh-kwe'h goblets filled with what Yeyinde suspected was C'ntlip, an intoxicating beverage that was rarely served since it was so strong and the yautja, being the training and battling obsessed people that they were, usually didn't feel inclined to indulge in drinks of that character. Yeyinde hadn't in fact ever tasted it because of its supposed side effects. Vraa'hn had told her that the beverage could enhance certain senses like smell and taste and that it was consumed rather abundantly when males and females got together during the mating periods. But then again, it was also served during occasions like this, to celebrate victory and bravery.

"To victory", clicked Gr'aal and uttered the first words he had ever spoken directly to her.

Yeyinde cocked her head to the side and smiled as she raised her goblet to both Gr'aal's and Duh-kwe'h's, they connected with a soft clink, and then she brought it to her lips and took a small sip. It burned like fire and tasted like nectar in her mouth and when she swallowed a warm sensation settled in her belly. Yeyinde took a deep breath and sank back in the chair, all of a sudden she felt terribly comfortable and the fact that almost every yautja on the ship stared at her didn't matter so much anymore. She didn't even feel the pain in her chest. The drumming stopped and a very old yautja with dreadlocks so long that they reached all the way down to his knees entered the podium. Yeyinde, Gr'aal's and Duh-kwe'h's bowed respectfully to him and Yeyinde couldn't help but feel a bit scared when she realized that the old yautja standing before her were the mother ships ruling elder, N'tao. She had never seen him before but she had heard stories about him and his bravery on numerous occasions.

"The young ones have returned", said the elder with a voice that crackled a bit but still was very strong. "They brought home Cetanu*and defeated the Kainde Amedha. Tonight we honor them with food and drinks and Nuj-hinde* - I raise my goblet to the victorious blooded hunters! Payas Leitjin-de Hma'mi-de!"

Every yautja in the hall roared and raised their goblets high into the air. "Payas Leitjin-de Hma'mi-de!"

The elder gave them a small nod and then descended down the stairs. The young yautja that had served them earlier came back again and offered them plates with meat, s'pke and a'oga. Gr'aal waved his goblet at him and the young male re-filled it with C'ntlip.

Yeyinde's eyes wandered over the crowd and not before long she sighted K'han, he was hard to miss with his long stature and strong built. Vraa'hn was at his side they were both dressed in formal armor and had their belts full with trophies. K'han's eyes found hers and he raised his goblet to her and she returned the gesture and took another sip from her goblet. It tasted good.

It felt good.

Yeyinde smiled and took another; both the drink and the food tasted superb and not before long she was involved in a conversation with both Gr'aal and Duh-kwe'h about combat philosophy.

"My main thought about _thin-de le'hasuan 'aloun'myin_ and mainly _thin-de_, is that the sight is something experienced in the heat of battle", said Gr'aal. "I felt it when I fought the hard meat queen, it was like-"

"Like tranquility", finished Duh-kwe'h for him and downed all the content in his goblet. The young yautja wasn't late to re-fill it.

"I don't understand why we don't practice the gifts of all sights in training? Do you suppose it's because the sight is something that cannot be taught by anyone but oneself?" asked Yeyinde thoughtfully and drank some more. The world started to blur a bit but it felt nice to be relaxed for a change. "Because K'han never mentioned it to me and neither did Mahwa", she sneered. "But he was stupid so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised."

Duh-kwe'h made a face and hummed something that could have been an agreement. Yeyinde smirked and gave him a nudge with her elbow. "But you turned out right regardless Duh-kwe'h."

He gave her such a comical look that she started to giggle, a sound that never had left her lips before, which resulted in an even stranger expression on Duh-kwe'h's face. Yeyinde threw her head back and laughed so hard that she almost cried, Gr'aal joined her and Duh-kwe'h shook his head before he also joined in.

"Whoo!" exclaimed Yeyinde happily. "This C'ntlip is great. I don't feel tired in the least, I feel-"

She was interrupted when the drumming started again, this time it had a contagious beat that for some reason made her want to get up and dance or jump or something that could make her join the flow of the music. The crowd down on the floor split up and made room for a huge circle. Yeyinde cocked her head to the side and almost squealed in delight when she realized that it was time for the dance to start.

Ten hunters made their way into the middle of the circle and Yeyinde's heart leapt in her chest when she saw that K'han was one of them. They had discarded their ceremonial armor and were almost naked in their muscled glory with only loincloths to cover up the most private parts. Yeyinde couldn't help but stare. She had seen Vraa'hn without clothes before but that was long ago when she still lived with him and a naked Vraa'hn was a different thing all together then a naked K'han. They were family. This hunter, he were, well she didn't know what he were but all of a sudden she felt uncomfortably hot and realized that she blushed.

They roared and brought their right hand to their chests with a thump.

"Mesh'in'ga!" exclaimed the whole hall and the drumming escalated and mixed with the roaring of the crowd.

Yeyinde swallowed.

The hunters split apart in two groups and started moving. They circled each other and made graceful leaps into the air. Yeyinde had seen this dance before; it visualized the birth of Paya and Cetanu and their first battle against the space mother and her children. It was an exciting play but for some reason Yeyinde felt more transfixed on K'han's graceful body and his wonderfully perfect muscles. Her gaze was glued to the way he moved his torso and his elegance as he avoided a punch from the yautja playing Tij-au* it was ridiculous because she had seen him fight before and this wasn't even a real fight but the way her heart beat in her chest told her that this feeling that she never had experienced before was connected to the hunter dancing before her.

'_Attractive_, _he's so attractive_', she thought and felt how the blush spread over her neck.

Her mouth went dry as she caught a whiff of distinct male musk and she realized that the scent of yautja males were so thick in the air that it was remarkable that she hadn't sensed it before. The strong, intoxicating scent went through her whole body and tickled sensors she hadn't known that she possessed until now and for some reason she felt needy. For what she had no idea, it was like poison, she felt too hot, too itchy. It was hard to breath and the whole room started spinning. It felt like fever but in a way that told her it wasn't.

She bit her lip.

'_Dear Paya! What is this feeling?_'

This couldn't be happening; she didn't know what to do with herself. All of a sudden she became very aware about how both Gr'aal and Duh-kwe'h smelled. For some reason she wanted to reach out and touch them, get close to their bodies and stroke her fingers up and down their muscled chests' while purring softly to them. Yeyinde swallowed and stared at the goblet in her hand. It had to be the C'ntlip, she felt like she were on fire. She had to get away before she did something stupid. She noticed that the performance had started to become more violent, the hits almost connected. To her horror she realized that both Gr'aal and Duh-kwe'h had started giving her strange looks and it might just have been her imagination but it seemed like Gr'aal leaned towards her and inhaled _her_ scent. He gave her a strange look before he reached out to touch her hair. No one had ever done that before. He exhaled with a trilling sound and for some reason he started to purr. Yeyinde was torn between the feeling of absolute bliss and complete terror.

She had to get away if she didn't want to make a fool out of herself. She glanced toward the play again while trying to ignore the fact that also Duh-kwe'h had started to purr. She turned her gaze toward the play and inhaled deeply when her eyes found K'han's, his heated stare sent a jolt of electricity through her spine and the hotness she felt in her stomach spread like fire down between her legs. K'han broke the eye contact and Yeyinde felt how she blushed furiously. It felt like he knew what kind of dirty thoughts she had entertained and perhaps he had also seen that Gr'aal had started to twine her dreadlocks between his fingers. She needed to get out. She needed to get away.

She needed to get away _now!_

She stood up abruptly and jumped down from the podium before anyone could stop her. She sprinted through the crowd and out of the main hall.

**XxX **

K'han kept a watchful eye on her where she was seated on top of the podium; she drank C'ntlip and seemed to be enjoying herself. When their eyes had met he had noted how she had looked genuinely happy and for some reason that made him smile to himself.

"To think that she helped to bring down a hard meat queen", clicked Vraa'hn and the pride in his voice was unmistakable. "_Without a burner_."

"Yes", said K'han. "That is admirably. A certain someone I know barley made it home alive."

"That was an accident."

"So you say", chuckled K'han and Vraa'hn growled but not in an aggressive way.

K'han checked the time on his wrist console panel and noted that it was time for him to prepare for the Nuj-hinde.

"I think it's time for me to get ready for the Nuj-hinde mesh'in'ga now", he said.

"I think Yeyinde will be happy that you will be participating in the Nuj-hinde, she likes the mesh'in'ga very much, I used to tell her the story when she was little", said Vraa'hn and smiled. "Do you want me to keep an eye on your armor?"

"Yes", said K'han and started to remove his breastplate. "It has been a while since I did this but I think that I still have a trick or two to show the young ones."

K'han gave his armor to Vraa'hn who put it over his shoulder. Vraa'hn put his hand on K'han's shoulder and wished him good luck. K'han nodded and then he went to find the other performers because the drumming had already started. He felt in great shape and when they stepped into the ring he could barely keep from smiling.

They sank down in battle position and roared; the drums started up with an aggressive beat that inspired to wild jumps and stylish moves that were more for show than efficiency.

"Nuj-hinde mesh'in'ga!" cried the whole crowd and K'han felt how the adrenaline kicked in.

His opponent who played Tij-au and normally went by the name Guan attacked him fist. K'han slipped his move according to the chorography and then they started to circle each other. All of their moves were made in synch with the drums and from the corner of his eye K'han could see that the other performers did a good job as well, the tale about the space mother were after all a well known performance.

He blocked a kick and was just about to counter strike when a sweet scent reached his nostrils and tickled his senses. At first he couldn't place it because how could it be possible that he could catch a whiff of _that_ scent in this place? When he felt it again however there were no doubt what it was that he scented, that was female musk, _N'dui'se_. Somewhere in this hall so crowded and drowned in male musk there was a female in heat. K'han blocked a strike that almost hit him square in the face. That strike wasn't in the chorography, neither were the kick that followed. K'han growled. They were out of sync, all of them. The strikes and kicks became more violent. It had to be the female musk that drove the males to this behavior, that and the C'ntlip.

"Pauk", he breathed. '_What's happening? It shouldn't be any females on board and especially no females in heat, it could be dangerous!_'

Guan tried to strike him again and K'han decided to end it quickly before someone got seriously hurt. He delivered a heavy kick to Guan's stomach and the other hunter tumbled backward, in pain probably but without being seriously hurt. He lifted his gaze and somehow it connected with Yeyinde's where she was seated on the podium. Then it hit him.

"Pauk!" he growled.

Her telltale gaze and her strangely red face told him everything he needed to know. It was her. She was the one that for some unfathomable reason had gone into heat. K'han's mind worked furiously. How was this possible? Why did she awaken his instincts to mate? Why did her Ooman musk have the scent of the sweetest yautja female? _Why?_

All of a sudden she was on her feet and literally flew of the podium and disappeared among the crowd. That was when he realized that she was in serious danger. Sooner or later the others would realize who the scent belonged to and then…

"Pauk! Vraa'hn!"

K'han ignored the fact that Guan was on his feet again and had growled a real challenge for blood in his direction. He ran toward the place where he had left Vraa'hn and found him standing in the exact same spot; his gaze was transfixed on the podium where Gr'aal and Duh-kwe'h also had disappeared from the podium.

"What is that scent?" mumbled Vraa'hn dreamily. "Its-"

"Female musk", growled K'han. "Give me my armor and follow me."

"What's going on K'han, what happened to-"

"Follow me!" roared K'han. "Or we might be too late."

He started to elbow his way through the confused crowd, here and there small brawls had erupted and the mood in the hall had rapidly become more upset and threatening. K'han roared and threw a young blood out of his way and kicked another one. It took too long to get to the door, K'han cursed under his breath. Yeyinde could be anywhere by now.

"What is happening K'han", asked Vraa'hn urgently when they finally had made it out through the doors.

"It's Yeyinde", grumbled K'han as he looked for a place to hide his armor, there was no time to put it on.

"What?"

"Didn't you feel it? The musk?"

"I thought I did but-"

"That was Yeyinde."

Vraa'hn's mouth fell open. "It can't be; she's an Ooman…"

K'han gave Vraa'hn a stern look. "I'm sure about it; didn't you see how both Gr'aal and Duh-kwe'h almost went crazy up there? And then there is the fact that she is the only female onboard-"

"But that's dangerous!" exclaimed Vraa'hn with a series of upset clicks. "She could run in to someone and if it's really her then that stupid hunter might not be able to contain himself, it's been four years since the last time the males on this ship had an opportunity to mate."

"I agree."

"We have to find her, if something happens to her, if someone touches her I won't be held responsible for my actions!"

"Where could she have gone?" asked K'han.

"Her room?"

"You check the lower levels; I will check the higher ones. It shouldn't be too hard to track her, I can still smell her."

"If something happens to her K'han I will kill the hunter who is responsible", muttered Vraa'hn and ran toward the elevators.

K'han couldn't agree more. '_By Paya, don't let me be too late!_'

**XxX **

Yeyinde ran blindly. She just needed to get away. K'han's gaze still burned in her mind, the aching and itching feeling in her stomach and between her legs didn't go away, if anything it had intensified. Tears of frustration blurred her vision; she rounded a corner and ran up a flight of stairs. She took a right turn and went through a door and into an unfamiliar corridor. Without thinking she continued straight forward and took a left turn. Blinded by tears and slightly unsteady on her legs she rounded a corner and straight into a solid chest. She fell to the floor and furiously tried to wipe the tears away while she mumbled fevered excuses to whomever she had collided with.

"Yeyinde?"

Her blood ran cold. She knew that leery voice, that underlying note of ridicule and hate. A hand landed on her shoulder and with more force then was necessary the hunter dragged her to her feet. Mahwa's deformed face greeted her through her blurred vision. He cocked his head to the side and regarded her with a guarded expression, as if she intrigued him somehow. He leaned forward a bit and sniffed in the air between them.

Yeyinde shook her head; that damn C'ntlip had dulled her senses, she couldn't think straight.

'I need to get away from him', she thought. The way his eyes bored into her made her skin crawl.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the main hall?" he asked. "Since the festivities are held in your honor?"

Yeyinde bit her lip. "That's none of your business", she answered. "Could you let me pass, please?"

"Where are your guardians? That Lou-dte Kalei and your supposed Zah'zai?"

"Don't talk about Vraa'hn that way", she growled.

"No need to get angry Yeyinde", he said with a chuckle.

"Get out of my way", she said with as much authority she could muster.

He stepped aside with a smirk on his face and she gave him a suspicious glance but pushed past never the less. When she had got past him she started running, his eyes burned holes in her back and she felt scared, as if she was back to her first day of training with him. After only a few meters and a right turn she understood why he had let her pass; to her horror the corridor was a dead end. Yeyinde spun around and found herself facing Mahwa's massive chest. She heard a strange rumbling sound and realized to her revulsion that Mahwa was purring.

"Tell me", he said with a deep rumbling. "How come that you smell of female musk?"

"What?" she breathed. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh?"

He leaned forward and breathed in deeply, a small trilling sounded from his chest and Yeyinde's breath hitched in her throat.

What was he _doing?_

"Definitely female", he clicked excitingly. "I wonder if…"

She almost shrieked as he griped her arm and dragged her closer.

"Let go of me!" she yelled and kicked at him. She succeeded to hit him in the kneecap. He grunted and she managed to break free of his hold but to her frustration and absolute terror there was nowhere to go. He blocked her only escape route.

He snarled at her pushed her against the wall. She found herself trapped between his heavy form and the cold steel behind her back. He put one hand over her mouth and shook his head with a predator smile. He had started purring again and this time she could feel how his body sent strangely pleasant vibrations through her own.

"Hush, hush", he mumbled and buried his tusks in her hair. She could hear his deep and erratic breathing in her ear and she could feel his hot breath on her neck. "Could it really be you?"

He started chuckling to himself and Yeyinde didn't like the sound of it, somehow he had realized something that she had yet to grasp. She yelped in surprise when he brushed a finger over her sex, he brought it back up again and inhaled deeply. A soft trill escaped him again and the gaze he gave her was strangely hazed.

"It would seem that the little Ooman have gone into heat", he purred and removed his hand from her mouth. "I have always thought that your kind wasn't compatible with our kind but it would seem that I was wrong."

"What do you mean?" she whispered.

"It means that I'm going to mate with you naturally since you so kindly choose me over all the other males on this ship", he purred. "What would K'han say if he knew?"

_Mate?_

Yeyinde stared at him. He couldn't be serious, it had to be a cruel joke of some kind, but the burning gaze he gave her made her terrified. It was true that she had secretly dreamed of the day when a hunter would ask her to mate with him but that had just been a stupid fantasy. Yautjas and Oomans couldn't mate, could they?

His tusks stroked her face almost gently and she could definitely smell _him_. It was a strong scent that she couldn't really describe but it increased her pulse that already ran wild.

She was unsure about if she should fight him or let him go on with whatever he had started. It was true that she hated him and if she had a choice she would never have picked him to mate with.

'_But it's also true that you'll probably never have a second chance at this_', she thought and squeezed her eyes shut as he started to remove her clothes. His large hands ran along the curves of her breasts and followed the outline of her stomach, down towards her trousers. His purring was deafening and she felt how his vibrations passed through her, sending tickling sensations through her nervous system. It felt good. Comforting. Thrilling. '_Tomorrow this craziness will have passed and he will regret that he ever touched me. But then at least I'll know what it means to mate…_'

She opened one eye and found herself staring straight into his. They were burning. Something evil lay behind those irises and she felt cold all of a sudden.

'_I can't do this_', she thought. '_He will hurt me; I know that he will hurt me! I have to get away._'

Without really thinking it through properly she brought her knee up and slammed it into his groin. Mahwa's purring ended abruptly and he kneeled. She kicked him in the face and made a somersault over his back and landed on her feet on the other side. She felt wobbly and disorientated; the C'ntlip definitely had dulled her senses. With a harsh curse she started running away from the dangerous hunter but she was mercilessly tackled to the ground from behind only moments later.

She screamed in pain as Mahwa's massive body landed on hers, the wound from the battle with the hard meat split open and she felt how warm blood trickled down her stomach.

"Ooman bitch", Mahwa growled from somewhere above. "Now I understand why K'han wanted to train you. If Vraa'hn only had told me that there were some perks in training you perhaps I would have paid you more attention."

His large hand took a hold of her hair and forced her it backward in an awkward position. He smiled and she noticed how blood flowed from his mouth where she had kicked him.

_This will hurt_.

He slammed her face into the floor and she heard the crunching of bones and realized that he probably had broken her nose. Blood flowed from her mouth and nose and the world spun around like crazy. He brought her head down again and her ears started ringing, everything was a blur and she felt like throwing up. He got of her and grabbed a hold of her neck and then he lifted her high up in the air so that her feet no longer touched the ground. He pushed a knee between her legs and pressed his body so close to hers that it would be impossible for her to kick him.

"I'm going to fuck you so hard that your mother might feel the pain", he whispered harshly. "And then we'll see what K'han has to say about it. Do you think that he'll challenge me again for your sake?"

His claws found their way to her trousers again and this time he tore them.

"You were tough one to crack admittedly", he grunted and started to fumble with his loincloth. "But now I realize that I went around this problem the wrong way."

Yeyinde felt so terrified that not even the hard meat queen could top this experience.

'_K'han! Vraa'hn!_' she thought panicked. '_Someone help me!_'

Mahwa squeezed her throat a little tighter and she couldn't breathe she tried to shake him of but it was impossible. He was stronger and bigger then she and he had more experience.

"Now, let's see…" he muttered and she felt ice cold fear as something blunt and warm probed at her entrance. "The anatomy is slightly different but I think I understand how it's done. I hope you are ready Yeyinde. This _might_ hurt."

"Let her go now Tarei'hasan or Paya help me I'll rip your guts out!"

* * *

Cetanu – God of death

Kainde Amedha – Hard meat (xenomorphs)

Nuj-hinde – The dance of the victor

Payas Leitjin-de Hma'mi-de – "Remember God's Practice"

Aboga – A brightly colored fruit with a sourly sweet taste.

Thin-de le'hasuan 'aloun'myin-del bpi-de gka-de hasou-de paya – Learn the gifts of all sights, or finish in the dance of the fallen gods

Tij-au – The space mother's eldest child.


	11. Yeyinde pt 9

A short chapter because I'm tired and lazy.

**Yeyinde pt. 9**

"Let her go now Tarei'hasan or Paya help me I'll rip your guts out!"

Mahwa chuckled. "It would seem that we're being rudely interrupted in our mating ritual Yeyinde", he squeezed her throat a bit harder and smiled over at the hunter at the other end of the corridor. "You know that a challenge for a female's favor is something that has to take place before the Elders and are to the death, don't you Vraa'hn?"

"Let her go", snarled Vraa'hn and Yeyinde felt how tears of relief prickled in the corner of her eyes. "Or I'll kill you."

"You two really have a strange relationship. I didn't know that it was common for a Yau-th and his ward to mate with each other", said Mahwa with a drawl and licked Yeyinde's cheek provocatively. "Because of course you are familiar with the fact that you cannot challenge me without wanting to mate with her yourself?"

"It ought to be perfectly clear that she's not willing to mate with you Mahwa", said Vraa'hn and roared with fury.

"Well that's her business and not yours since she's a blooded hunter now; you're just a bothersome nobody who's interfering with things that doesn't concern you."

"It does concern me", growled Vraa'hn.

"No it doesn't, if you don't want her for yourself that is", the ridicule and challenge in Mahwa's voice was unmistakable. "Well, do you?"

Yeyinde looked at her Yau-th and saw how he battled with his fury. He had never been good at keeping it in check and she knew that he often did rash things without thinking. She swallowed a sob because she didn't know what to do; Mahwa was right. If anyone should challenge him over what he had done and was about to do, then it was her and somewhere deep inside she knew that that was exactly what Mahwa hoped for; an excuse to kill her without having to worry about the consequences. But she was frightened and weak, not worthy of the name Yeyinde.

"Vraa'hn", she croaked. "Vraa'hn… I'm-"

"Don't worry Yeyinde", he murmured. "I'm not going to let him harm you anymore."

"You still haven't answered my question, Lou-dte Kalei", said Mahwa. "Are you challenging me and taking the fight before the Elders? Or are you going to let me finish what I started?" he smiled wickedly and buried his tusks in Yeyinde's hair. "Mm, she smells deliciously, don't you agree?"

"I'm going to do neither", growled Vraa'hn and started to move forward.

Mahwa sneered and let go of her neck and she fell down on the floor, furiously trying to gasp for air. Mahwa went into battle position and stood facing Vraa'hn in nothing but his skin. Vraa'hn on the other hand had full ceremonial armor.

"You know that I'm well within my rights to kill you now Lou-dte Kalei", murmured Mahwa.

"If you can", snarled Vraa'hn.

Yeyinde tried to get up on her feet but she felt faint only by moving a little, with a strangled cry she managed to get up on her feet by supporting her back against the wall. Mahwa and Vraa'hn kept completely still while watching each other for gaps in the defenses. Then all hell broke loose. The two huge hunters both jumped and slammed into each other in mid air. They fell to the floor with a loud bang and to Yeyinde's horror it was Mahwa that ended up on top. Vraa'hn on the other hand had been protected from the collision with the floor thanks to his armor. Mahwa on the other hand was stark naked. Yeyinde didn't know what to do; it was against the hunter's code to interrupt a duel, but what if Mahwa hurt Vraa'hn. What if he killed him? She took a step forward and immediately knew that she had got a concussion when Mahwa had slammed her head on the floor. She leaned forward and threw up, her muscles gave in and she ended up on her hands and knees.

"Vraa'hn", she pleaded. "Please-"

Her Yau-th didn't respond, but he slammed his fist in Mahwa's face instead who roared and fell of Vraa'hn. Both of them got up on their feet and Mahwa was now bleeding abundantly from his mouth. They stood still for a while before they slammed into each other again. This time none of them succeeded to get the other one on his back. They wrestled around on the floor for a while, trying to get a grip or some kind of lock. Wrestling was not Yeyinde's forte; K'han had almost left it out of her training since she never could measure up to a grown hunter if they both were on the ground. In her case it was best to keep her distance and of the ground. Vraa'hn and Mahwa were evenly matched though and by the looks of it none of them seemed to get a good enough hold of the other.

Yeyinde tried to stand up again and succeeded halfway by supporting herself against the wall. She limped forward but had no idea how she could help Vraa'hn in her current state. Vraa'hn managed to get a hold of Mahwa's arm and by using the pressure point above the elbow he succeeded to throw Mahwa off balance and get on top. He pounded the other hunter's head against the floor and delivered a bone shattering blow to Mahwa's throat. It seemed like the fight was over, the light in Mahwa's eyes flickered and when Vraa'hn lifted his fist for the finishing strike Yeyinde was almost certain that he had won.

But the strike never came. Vraa'hn's fist remained in the air and Yeyinde heard a faint gurgling noise and then her Yau-th collapsed on the floor by Mahwa's side.

"Vraa'hn!"

She forced her body to move out of sheer horror. She kneeled by his side and turned him around. One of his own daggers was buried in his throat. Green blood flowed over his chest and Yeyinde could hear how his breathing got heavier and more strained.

"No!"

She tried to stop the blood flow with her hands and looked around desperately for something to use for bandage.

"Vraa'hn", she whispered. "Please don't die Vraa'hn, I'll find the medic, you'll be fine."

"Yeyinde", he mumbled. "Yeyinde…"

"I'm here Vraa'hn, stay with me."

"Yeyinde, I'm so-so-"

"Sch… don't speak, you'll be fine", she said and felt how hot, silent tears fell from her cheeks.

"Yeyinde, I never told you that I-"

"Sch, sch…"

"Yeyinde!"

She turned around and saw how K'han came around the corner. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the bloodbath before him.

"K'han!" she cried. "Vraa'hn is hurt. Mahwa stabbed him; we need to get him to the medic."

The huge, black hunter came over to her side and kneeled. He put one finger on Vraa'hn's neck and felt for a pulse.

"He's gone Yeyinde", said K'han and there were real pain in his voice.

"No!" she protested. "He can't be. Vraa'hn! Vraa'hn! Wake up, please don't do this, I need you. I love you Vraa'hn, please don't be dead."

K'han shook his head and closed Vraa'hn's eyes with his thumb and index finger. Yeyinde turned her head and looked at Mahwa where he lay only one meter away. He was still breathing. She screamed and got up on her feet, bringing one of Vraa'hn's knives with her as she did so.

"You're going to pay for this!" she screamed and brought the knife up.

"No Yeyinde", said K'han and stopped her onslaught halfway through the motion. "That would be murder of someone who's defenseless. Vraa'hn fought Mahwa and he lost. The Elders would throw you of the ship if you killed him now."

"I don't care!"

He looked at her with a grim expression on his face. "But I do."

The knife fell from her hand and landed on the floor with a metallic clatter. She dropped to her knees and screamed like she never had screamed before. Her whole body shook with raw sorrow.

K'han put a hand on her shoulder and then dragged her close to his chest. A sad trilling sound came from his mouth and his mandibles stroked her hair gently. When he lifted her into his arms she didn't protest. She just buried her head in his shoulder and wished that everything that had just happened were a bad dream.

**XxX **

She had finally fallen asleep. Her head looked ridiculously small on his huge pillow and buried under his pelts she looked like a small pup. But she wasn't and hadn't been for a long time. K'han sat down in one of his arm chairs and sighed deeply. It was all too much to take in on one occasion. Vraa'hn was dead and Yeyinde had somehow gone into heat in one second only to get out of it just as quickly. K'han did not understand it. He could smell the musk on her torn clothes but she didn't seem to be exuding it any longer. It was incomprehensible, female yautjas went into heat once every ten year or so, perhaps every five year in extreme cases. But to go into heat in one moment and then get out of it the next was unheard of.

Perhaps the stories were true.

K'han shook his head. There were rumors circling about the soft meats females and that they went in and out of heat as they pleased. The concept was so ridiculous that K'han never had paid it any mind earlier because how could a society work like that? The soft meat males must go crazy all the time.

But then it hit him. Soft meats didn't have a very refined sense of scent; he had noticed that with Yeyinde, and where yautjas could taste the air around them, soft meats seemed to be left with only that small nose of theirs.

'_So this could happen again?_' he thought and stole a glance at Yeyinde's sleeping form again. '_Paya help me!_'

He shook his head. It was only speculations. He had other, more pressing matters to deal with. Mahwa had killed Vraa'hn in a duel over Yeyinde. That Mahwa would want to mate with a soft meat to start with was laughable but all evidence pointed in that direction. Could it be that the experienced hunter that had had his share of female yautja company went and lost his control when he scented Yeyinde? Somehow that was hard to believe. K'han had felt aroused when the scent of Yeyinde's musk had reached his sensors but he would never have lost control and tried to mate with her and somehow he suspected that the same thing went for Mahwa. So what was Mahwa's game exactly.

'_Revenge!_'

It hit K'han like a merciless blow to the head. Mahwa had tried to mate with Yeyinde and hurt her as much as possible in the process to get revenge on K'han.

"Pauk-de", snarled K'han and suddenly he felt a strong urge to hit something.

Mahwa had also killed Vraa'hn to take out his revenge on K'han. That ma'nih pauk-de*had lost to K'han and weren't hunter enough to take matters straight to him.

K'han was angry beyond words and then he started to worry. What exactly had Mahwa and Vraa'hn fought about? The only thing that came into mind was the right to mate with Yeyinde.

"Pauk", breathed K'han when realization hit home.

Mahwa won, Vraa'hn lost. The Elders would without doubt support Mahwa's claim over Yeyinde. He would have to hand her over to him knowing that he would break her so thoroughly that she might not survive.

'_And then his revenge will be complete…_'

He looked over at Yeyinde again. Her face was badly bruised and she had a concussion. A blooded hunter she might be but she were still too naïve for their world. He started to realize what Vraa'hn had seen every time he had looked upon her; something fragile and beautiful that must be protected at all costs. K'han felt that unfamiliar stab in his gut again. He had skewered the bonds between him and Yeyinde when he deemed her worthy to go on her first hunt. He had done that because he had been afraid of these kinds of feelings. Well, it seemed he couldn't avoid them and after what had transpired tonight he would never let her go. He would challenge Mahwa for her sake and beat him. Then she could stay with him if she choose to, as his mate if needed be, or go her own way.

* * *

Ma'nih pauk-de – Mother fucker


End file.
